The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved a project involving an estimated cost of Tk 22.04 billion for network expansion of state-owned mobile phone operator Teletalk at the village level and for modernisation of the existing network to provide 5G services.
The approval came from a meeting of the ECNEC held with its chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Tuesday. The premier joined the meeting from Ganabhaban through a videoconference while ministers, state ministers, Planning Commission members and secretaries concerned joined the meeting from the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said that a total of 10 projects were approved on Tuesday involving an overall estimated cost of Tk 79.86 billion.
“Of the total project cost, Tk 66.60 billion will come from the government of Bangladesh, Tk 1.37 billion from the concerned organisation’s fund and the rest Tk 11.88 billion as project assistance,” he added.
Out of the approved 10 projects, nine are new while one is a revised project.
The planning minister said Teletalk Bangladesh Limited under the Post and Telecommunication Division will implement the project on expansion of the Teletalk network by November 2023.
He said the main project objectives include improving the qualitative of the existing Teletalk network to provide modern 4G-based services to the rural people at an affordable price.
The project will also ensure the modernisation of the existing core and transmission network of Teletalk suitable for providing 5G technology-based services.
The main project operations include creating some 3,000 BTS sites, increasing the retention capacity of the types of machinery of some 2,000 BTS sites compatible to 3G and 4G, modernization of sites by replacing existing 200 mobile BTS, incorporating 4G BTS in the existing 1,000 mobile BTS sites, installing 5,000 Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) devices, installing long haul and short-haul microwave link, expanding core IP backbone network, and expansion of charging, billing, value-added service and other subsystems.
Answering a question, State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said that Teletalk has been running operations since its inception as a government tool or arms since no other network except Teletalk could hardly reach the CHT and char land areas.
He said Bangladesh is a welfare-oriented country for which the government always has to look into the wellbeing of people.
According to officials, the Planning Commission has already received a project to initiate 5G coverage in selected areas of Dhaka city.
