South Asian GSM mobile operators mull alliance

South Asian GSM cellular phone operators are planning to form an alliance to work as a group for mutual benefits, a key official of a local cell phone company said.

The alliance will be officially launched in Dhaka during a two-day meeting of the South Asian GSM operators that begins on January 12. The country's three GSM operators -- GrameenPhone Limited, Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh (TMIB) and Sheba Telecom -- will jointly host the meeting.

"It is expected that during the meet South Asian GSM operators will form an alliance to share their experiences for the benefit of operators and their subscribers," Mehboob Chowdhury, director sales and marketing of GrameenPhone Limited and organiser of the meet, told The Daily Star in an interview.

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Aminul Haque will inaugurate the conference at Sonargaon Pan Pacific Hotel at 10:00am as chief guest while Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Syed Marghub Morshed will attend the function as special guest.

Explaining the objectives of the meeting, Chowdhury said the South Asian perspective of GSM cellular operators is almost similar and the outcome of the conference would help resolve many relevant issues.

GSM (global system of mobile communications) is a second generation digital wireless technology that has become the de facto global standard for European and Asian mobile operators in more than 191 countries and competing mainly with CDMA (code division multiple access), which is also a 2G digital technology.

"After the conference, operators would be able to pursue their respective telecom regulators on common issues to benefit them and their subscribers," Chowdhury said.

At least 25 participants from seven countries including Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are expected to join the meeting.

The meeting will also set modus operandi to make economy handsets available for the subscribers of the region.

"The prospect of economy handset is bright in the South Asian region considering the per capita income," Chowdhury said.

There are 777.6 million GSM subscribers in 191 countries, which accounts for 71.7 per cent of the world's digital market and about 70 per cent of the wireless market.

Bangladesh has over 10 lakh mobile phones, about 90 per cent of which are provided by GSM operators.