State-run mobile phone operator Teletalk, also the only 3G-service provider in the country, has reportedly finished preparations for extending its network to the Sundarbans.
Officials said Teletalk’s services will be available in the Sundarbans, one of the remotest areas in the country, beginning next week.
The operator had already set up the necessary infrastructure in three areas in the coastal forest namely Dublar Char, Katka and the popular tourist destination Mongla.
With the inclusion of these three remote areas in the network, the country will enjoy 100% mobile phone coverage for the first time.
Mobile operators claim that 99% of the country’s area is already under mobile network coverage.
“We are trying to offer moderate services to the subscribers with our limited resources. This step is part of the government’s initiatives towards building a digital Bangladesh,” Md Mujibur Rahman, managing director of Teletalk, told the Dhaka Tribune recently.
In March, Teletalk submitted an application to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) seeking permission to go to the Sundarbans, the biggest mangrove forest in the world.
Following BTRC’s approval, the company built its network infrastructure in the area in a hurry. According to sources, Teletalk had begun the preparations for extending its network even before it secured the regulator’s permission.
Although initially, the infrastructure has been built at only the three popular tourist spots, Mujibur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that they had plans to extend coverage to remoter areas in phases.
“Not only the Sundarbans, Teletalk pioneered [extending mobile coverage to] many places,” the Teletalk boss claimed.
The state-run operator has been in the past widely criticised for the quality and strength of its network.
However, Teletalk also happens to be the first of the country’s six operators to have extended its coverage to the remote hilly areas of Banderban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari in 2008.
No other operator has network coverage in the Sundarbans till date.
