5G trial run on 12 Dec: Teletalk MD
5G will be tested in some government offices during the trial run at six sites in the capital
State-owned telecom service provider Teletalk will launch the Fifth Generation (5G) technology for cellular networks on 12 December this year on test basis at six sites in Dhaka metropolitan city.
"The latest mobile network technology will be tested in some government offices during the trial run at six sites in the capital with plans to expand the coverage to 200 sites by 2022," Md Shahab Uddin, managing director of Teletalk, told reporters on Saturday.
The operator already completed the feasibility study to rollout the advance technology, he said during a workshop organised for the members of Telecom Reporters' Network Bangladesh (TRNB).
The state-run mobile operator has segmented the 5G rollout strategy in three phases: limited trial, commercial trial and commercial deployment.
The technology will help in building smart manufacturing environment through cloud-based wireless robot control, wireless eHealth, panoramic live broadcasting in social networks and so on.
Mohammad Razaul Karim Rizvi, deputy general manager (planning & implementation) of Teletalk, said that the commercial trial will be implemented in 200 sites by 2022 through cluster-wise deployment across the Dhaka metropolitan focusing on commercial and government offices.
"During this phase, telecom operators will understand the customers' requirement and other business aspects and will work on creating awareness to attract potential customers," said Razaul.
"The commercial deployment of 5G network in divisional cities and district towns will be implemented by 2026," he said.
SK Wahiduzzaman, general manager and Targhibul Islam, company secretary, also spoke at the workshop.
The present government, in their election manifesto of 2018, promised to launch 5G across the country by 2021-2023.
Earlier, the Posts and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar said that the 5G launching could be any day between 12 and 16 December this year.
As part of the initiative, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) decided to allot 60MHz frequency wave (spectrum) to Teletalk from 3.5GHz frequency to launch 5G services in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh launched 3G mobile communication technology in October 2012 and 4G technology on 19 February 2018.
Currently, under four telecom operators, there are 17.69 crore mobile subscribers, while mobile internet users stand at 12 crore, of which only 28% subscribers have adopted 4G networks and 41% use smartphones.
