The Dhaka Times Desk After the launch of 4G service in the country, the customers of Bangladesh are expected to be able to exchange information on the Internet at a much faster speed than before.
4G service has been launched in the country. Consumers in Bangladesh are expected to be able to exchange information on the Internet at much faster speeds than before. Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission BTRC has expressed such hope. However, in order to enjoy the full facilities of 4G, the lack of infrastructure and mobile phone handsets has also come into view.
It is to be noted that BTRC has sold 4-G frequencies or waves in an open auction in Dhaka last week. Bangladesh's two major mobile operators, Grameen Phone and Bangla Link, participated in the auction. BTRC chairman Shahjahan Mahmud told the media that Tk 5,268 million came to the treasury of the Bangladesh government from the auction.
Previous generation technologies were 2-G and 3-G. Only phone calls and text messages could be sent on 2-G. 3G technology enables Internet browsing, video calling and even music and video downloading from mobile phones. Everything that can be done in 3G can be done in 4G, but faster and better.
There are also many customer complaints about 3G service quality in Bangladesh which we mentioned in a report yesterday. Experts have doubts about how much this new service will be able to provide where the country's mobile phone operators have not been able to or are not able to provide 3-G services properly.
Information technology experts feel that the digital divide within the country will further increase after the launch of 4G. The reason is that even if the people of big cities get this benefit, the people of the remote areas of the country will be deprived of this benefit as before.
It is argued that customers will not get speed, they will get volume. On top of that, the customer is being charged again to upgrade his SIM to 4G. It is absolutely unethical at this stage to make any kind of charges. They have no right to take this money. When it came from 2-G to 3-G, no charge was taken. But so far no operator in Bangladesh has been able to provide quality 3-G service to customers. There is doubt among the customers about how 4G will provide the service. Now let's see, time will tell everything.
In order to avail the Forge service, the user has to:
SIM card and handset must be compatible with this technology to avail 4G service. There is also an opportunity to find out if the SIM is fake or not, free of charge.
By dialing *121*3232# from the mobile phone, Grameenphone users can get the return message whether the SIM is fake or not.
Robi customers need to dial *123*44#.
Banglalink customers will get information about 4G SIM in the return message if they write 4G from their mobile phone and send a short message to 5000. But Teletalk has not launched any such service for their users yet.
If the SIM is not 4G, then it should be changed to a 4G SIM from the customer service center of the concerned mobile phone operator. For this, the cost including value added tax (musak) will be 115 taka. Photocopy of national identity card, photograph and fingerprint (biometric verification) are required to change SIM. However, there is a lot of criticism on the matter. When converting from 2G to 3G, there is no need to change SIM. So the matter is being discussed. Maybe mobile operators can provide alternatives.
You can also know yourself whether the handset you are using is Forge compatible or not. For this first you need to go to the 'settings' option of the mobile phone. If you go to network or 'wireless and networks', you can see whether the phone has 4G technology or not. You can also get the information about the 4G handset from the service center of the mobile phone operator and the sales center of various smartphone brands.
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