GP`s 10,000 BTSs to be made 3G enable by June

All the existing 10,000 base transceiver station (BTSs) of Grameenphone will support 3G services by June 2016.

The cellular phone operator announced this on Tuesday at a press conference in a city hotel. Grameenphone Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rajeev Sethi elaborated their future plan pinning internet in presence of Telenor Group
President and CEO Sigve Brekke.

Meanwhile, Grameenphone has converted more than 5,500 BTSs to 3G enable since the service was introduced in late 2013.

In his presentation highlighting the network growth in 2015, the Grameenphone CEO said 3401 3G BTSs were added to the network in 2015 taking GP`s total 3G sites across Bangladesh to 5831 at the close of the year.

"We have made significant investment in 2015 and it is our intention to continue this momentum and add nearly 1700 more 3G sites by the end of the first quarter of this year," Sethi said.

"This addition will reach 3G services to nearly 90 per cent of its subscriber base in that time," he added.

Grameenphone had announced its alignment with the Group`s digital ambition to take internet for all after the introduction of 3G in Bangladesh. Since then the GP has quantified its ambition to acquire 50 million data customers on the GP network by 2019. As of the third quarter, there are more than 15.2 million data users on the GP network.

Speaking on the occasion, Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke, pointed out "Grameenphone is on a transformation journey from a voice communications company to a digital services provider. As part of this transformation we have not only seen significant network investments but also, with active support from Telenor, have seen introduction of new digital content and rich e-services in education, agriculture and health that have already demonstrated efficiency and progress among user beneficiaries."

Grameenphone 3G network has already been expanded across 481 upazillas in the country. The network expansion has not only involved adding new 3G sites and conversion of thousands of 2G sites to 3G sites, but also did upgradation of existing 2G sites to further enhance 2G services for general customers.