Bangladesh

Launched in 1997, Grameenphone was the first Telenor venture in the Asian telecom market. Today Grameenphone is the largest mobile provider in Bangladesh, serving more than 20 million subscribers, enjoying a remarkable increase of 53 per cent in the subscriber base in 2007.

In countries where few people have mobile phones, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, Telenor and its partners have boosted network capacity and extended coverage to new and often remote areas, connecting millions of previously unconnected people.

Telenor holds 62 per cent of Grameenphone, with Grameen Telecom Corporation owning the remaining 38 per cent.

The headquarters of Grameenphone is located in Dhaka.

Licences and network

Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5,700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 per cent of Bangladesh's population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network.

Grameenphone currently holds both a GSM 900 and a GSM 1800 licence. The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing access to high-speed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area.

Services and innovation - developing Bangladesh

By extending and developing telecommunication services throughout the country, GP contributes to GDP growth and the development of Bangladeshi society. Grameenphone also offers a number of services, such as:

• Community Information Centres (CiCs), where rural people may access the Internet, voice communications, video conferencing and other information services at affordable prices.
• HealthLine, which provides around the clock access to medical services for its subscribers via mobile phone.
• BillPay, which allows utility bill payments by mobile phone in selected areas.
• CellBazaar, which enables buyers and sellers to trade basic goods (e.g. rice, fish, motorcycles, used goods) from their mobile phones. Grameenphone CellBazaar won the 2008 3GSMA Global Mobile Award for "Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development".
• Grameenphone has installed a few hybrid solar-powered base station sites in Bangladesh, saving electricity and helping to protect the environment.

As a pioneer in the Bangladeshi telecom market, Telenor has a strong foothold from which to face new competition from other major companies in the years to come.

Key figures - Grameenphone

For more information, visit

> http://www.grameenphone.com/