5G trial run today

Bangladesh is entering the fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology era today with a trial run in Dhaka, Savar and Tungipara, aiming to ensure the fastest network service to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has allocated the Teletalk Bangladesh Limited 60 Megahertz (MHz) in 3.5 GHz band spectrum to roll out the official trial run of 5G in six places of the country. The areas are the Prime Minister’s Office, Dhanmondi Road 32, Bangladesh Secretariat, and Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka, and Savar and Tungipara outside Dhaka.

Later, Teletalk will launch it in another 200 important areas of Dhaka city by March 2022.

Marking the 'Digital Bangladesh Day,' ICT adviser to the prime minister Sajeeb Wazed Joy will inaugurate the trial run virtually.

The technology is capable of harnessing and amplifying the power of artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, blockchain, automation, and other technologies by delivering higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more consistent user experience to more users.

The government plans to use this higher performance and improved efficient network to provide smart user experiences and connect new industries.

"With the launching of this technology Bangladesh will be the 9th country in the world to enter the 5G era," Posts and Telecommunications Division minister Mustafa Jabbar told the reporters at the Press and Information Department conference room on Saturday.

"Our target is to facilitate industrial economic zones and production lines rather than using it as mere mobile telecommunication tool. We are hopeful that this will attract many foreign investors, especially in tech-related businesses,” the minister said.

"If equipped with the Internet of Things devices this technology will benefit and transform our agriculture too. Such as a farmer can know how much and when the food has to be given in the pond for the fishes by detecting their movement. Or how much fertiliser and irrigation has to be given in field for crops by detecting the colour of leaves by IoT devices," he added.

“For general consumers use 4G technology equipped with 4Gbps speed is enough. Although 5G can provide a 20Gbps speed, which can be used as mobile network service with existing SIM cards and competent devices," he said.

"At present, 63 per cent of the demand for mobile phones in the country is being produced in Bangladesh by 14 companies and they are capable to produce 5G compatible phones,” he said adding that the price of the locally made devices will be within the reach of middle-income people," he said.

"For broadband, we have fixed the rate across the country and it depends on the speed per Mbps. But for cellular internet, it depends on the volume package with a limited time. We are vigilant so that telecom companies carry forward the existing volume by purchasing the same package before it expires. A team of telecom regulatory commission working to made a fixed data plan as we did for broadband service," he said.

"We haven't decided any additional price for using 5G service in cellular service. But as the speed and data consumption will be high, users have to buy volume packages according to their need," he added.

The first trial run of 5G was completed in July 2018 in Dhaka.

Preparations are underway to launch this service in five critical industrial zones through Teletalk and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited after 2022, said the minister.

By purchasing the required spectrum on the upcoming auction in March next year, three private mobile operators Robi, Grameenphone, and Banglalink will also be able to run the service in the country.