Banglalink's 4G to reach all district HQs by June: CEO

Banglalink aims to provide 4G mobile services in all district headquarters by June this year, reaching about 30 percent of the population.

The third largest mobile operator has started providing the service from 400 of its 9,500 base stations and projected to cover about 3,000 by June, Banglalink CEO Erik Aas told reporters at the operator's headquarters in the capital yesterday.

The operator received 4G licence on February 19, and till date its 4G coverage has been extended to seven major cities, he said.

Currently, a few lakh of its 3.20 crore customers are getting the 4G services and the number is increasing by 20,000 to 25,000 on an average every day. 

The operator faced huge challenges last year for flood along with low spectrum coverage, especially in 3G service, but it has overcome the situation, Aas said. "We had serious quality issue last year and have made a remarkable advancement in ensuring better customer experience by upgrading network capacity this month," he said. The initial target is to provide customers with the latest service by Ramadan in June, he added.

Banglalink has recently increased the amount of its total spectrum by 53 percent by acquiring 10.6 MHz spectrum at over Tk 3,000 crore, which will give the operator a huge mileage, he said. "Now we are focusing on digital services which will also push customers to empower their digital life."

The 4G services will play a vital role in boosting socio-economic growth of the country by facilitating healthcare services, remote education, transportation and financial services, he said.

The super-fast mobile internet provided by 4G network will enable the users to enjoy zero-buffer high definition (HD) video streaming, HD quality video calling, high-fidelity music streaming, online gaming, social networking and all sorts of other internet services.

Banglalink also reiterated that they would invest $1 billion over the next three years which would give a huge boost to their customers. "Not only Banglalink, no operator has profited from the 3G business and it will take time to get returns from the 4G investment as well," said Aas.

Providing 4G requires a very expensive network to build but at the same time, this will give users a huge boost in availing different digital services. Mike Michel, chief marketing officer, and Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer, were also present.