After the commercial launch, mobile phone operator Banglalink has already attracted 12,000 3G customers.
The operator, which had launched the third generation broadband service commercially on 10 October, celebrated the achievement at a city hotel on Monday night. Its 3G services were commercially launched at some prioritised areas of the capital and the Chittagong.
Banglalink is planning to reach its Khulna and Sylhet customers by this November.
In Dhaka, the operator launched 3G service in Gulshan, Banani, Old DOHS, Baridhara and Motijheel while in Chittagong the service is made available for the Agrabad area.
Officials said a 3G subscriber of Banglalink can also enjoy video calling along with other services. Banglalink is the first operator to offer its customers with 3G-enabled contents such as local radio apps, audio streaming and video streaming services, along with some useful mobile portals.
“Banglalink has always been at the forefront of telecommunication technology in Bangladesh – the commercial launch of 3G reiterates our resolve to make available the most modern services so that our customers can start something new,” Ziad Shatara, chief executive officer of Banglalink, said at the function
Post and Telecommunications Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chief Sunil Kanti Bose, National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Ghulam Hossain, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on telecommunications ministry Abdus Sattar, Telecommunications secretary Abu Bakar Siddique and ICT secretary Nazrul Islam, among others, were present at the function.
Pointing at the political instability, Sunil Kanti Bose said: “There is a tense situation looming large. But we are sure this will not be able to stop the growth of the country’s telecommunication sector.” In the 8 September auction, Banglalink bought 5 Megahertz spectrum on 2100 band and got 3G licence in a week.
Banglalink is the second operator to have commercially launched 3G service in the country after the aunction.
The sources concerned said mobile operator Airtel will launch the updated data service by 28 October while Robi will make it in next few days.
