Exchange opened to provide more landline connection to cellphone operators
Staff Correspondent
Post and Telecommunications Minister Aminul Hoque yesterday inaugurated the ATOB (Association of Telecommunications Operators of Bangladesh) Tandem Exchange at Moghbazar Telephone Bhaban in Dhaka that will provide landline connections to private mobile phone companies. The first-ever tandem exchange in Bangladesh will help the four mobile phone companies to expand their operations through the state-owned Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board's (BTTB) landline access across the country. Transmission from the exchange will however start after a few months as the BTTB is yet to complete various technicalities, sources said. The ATOB took the initiative to establish the Tk 18 crore exchange funded by the four companies -- GrameenPhone, AKTEL, CityCell and Sheba Telecom -- under an agreement between the government and the companies. The minister stressed competition between the public and private sectors for proper development of the telecommunications sector. The tandem exchange will increase inter-connectivity as the BTTB and the private sector will work together from now, he added. It will also reduce the inter-connectivity problems between the mobile phone operators, he hoped. Post and telecommunications secretary Faroque Ahmed Siddique said around 80,000 BTTB connections will be available to each of the four operators in the first phase. They will get access to another one lakh connections each on completion of the second phase of the project, he mentioned. Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Syed Marghub Morshed, BTTB Chairman Nurul Islam and top executives of the four mobile operators also spoke at the function.
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