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DUBLIN, Ireland-(Business Wire)-October 26, 2007 - Research and
Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c72684) has
announced the addition of 2007 South Asian - Mobile Communications
and Mobile Data Markets to their offering.

This annual report offers a wealth of information on the Mobile
Communications and Mobile Data markets in Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Subjects
covered include:

— Overview, Regional Characteristics, Growth and Market Structure

— Mobile Technologies - GSM, CDMA, PCN/PCS

— Mobile Services - Prepaid, fixed-mobile convergence, gaming

— Mobile Data - Market Overview, SMS, MMS, GPRS, WAP, Mobile TV

— Overview on 3G

— Mobile Satellite Services

This Asia market report covers the 8 economies in the South Asia sub-
region. It takes an overall look at the various telecoms markets,
together with a particular look at the mobile communications and
mobile data markets in each of the economies.

Of the 1.1 billion mobile subscribers in Asia by March 2007, 245
million of these were to be found in South Asia. The growth of the
mobile telephony and data markets across South Asia has been
dominated by the strong activity in the more heavily populated
countries of the sub-region - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There
was also surprisingly strong activity in the mobile sector in the
strife-torn market of Afghanistan, as a competitive market ensured
100% annual subscriber growth. In fact, it is fair to say that all
eight countries in South Asia have been experiencing booming mobile
markets.

South Asia mobile markets - subscribers, penetration and annual
change - March 2007

Highlights in the individual mobile markets of South Asia include:

Afghanistan

In 2003, the second GSM mobile service in the country was launched,
while another two mobile licences were issued in September 2005. The
arrival of competition boosted the market. By end-2005, the mobile
subscriber base had rapidly moved to about 1.2 million (about 4%
penetration). The expansion has continued at around 100% annual
growth rate and by early 2007, there were an estimated 2.2 million
mobile subscribers. New operator Areeba also had about 250,000
subscribers by early 2007. For the country overview, see chapter 2,
page 5.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh ranks among the most densely populated countries on the
globe, but its fixed-line teledensity remains the lowest in South
Asia. With teledensity at less than 1%, only a relatively small
proportion of the population has had access to any telecom facility.
Almost 99% of homes lack a telephone and there is a four year waiting
list for a fixed-line service. The situation is worse in the rural
villages, with more than 90% of Bangladesh’s telephone services
located in urban areas. This has set the scene for a massive
expansion of the country’s mobile market. There have been a number of
consecutive years of strong growth (138% in 2005, 90% in 2006), and
growth was continuing at 100%+ coming into 2007. Mobile penetration
was still only 16% (20 million mobile subscribers) by March 2007. For
the country overview, see chapter 3, page 10.

Bhutan

A country that preferred to remain isolated from the world for a long
time, Bhutan has taken steps in recent times to improve its
telecommunications capability. To do so it has had to overcome the
country’s mountainous landscape. While the country had a basic
connection to the outside world as early as 1974, with the
introduction of trunk calls between Bhutan and India, it was not
until 1999 that television, satellite dishes and Internet services
started to appear. The tiny country proceeded to invest relatively
heavily - to the tune of around US$27 million - in telecommunications
infrastructure between 1996 and 2002 to provide the country with a
modern fixed line network. In late 2003, the country’s first mobile
service was launched by Bhutan Telecom (b-mobile) and by early 2007
was claiming 64,000 subscribers, giving a mobile penetration of about
3% (ITU reports a higher figure). For the country overview, see
chapter 4, page 24.

India

India continues to be one of the fastest growing major telecom
markets in the world, with mobile growth being central to the
expansion of the sector. Sweeping reforms introduced by successive
Indian governments over the last decade have dramatically changed the
nature of telecommunications in the country. The mobile sector has
grown from around 10 million subscribers in 2002 to more than 150
million (including both GSM and CDMA services) by early 2007. The
growth has been on the back of a mix of higher subscriber volumes,
lower tariffs and falling handset prices. While GSM technology has
remained the dominant technology platform in the market, CDMA shook
the market up when it quickly grabbed a 23% market share. Despite the
already substantial mobile subscriber base, this represented only
around 14% of India’s one billion plus population. Clearly, the
mobile industry is looking to continue its strong growth. The
country’s telecom regulator, the TRAI, says that the rate of market
expansion would increase with further regulatory and structural
reform. For the country overview, see chapter 5, page 26.

The Maldives

The Maldives, with its relatively small population of 300,000, can
rightly claim an efficient, up to date national telecommunications
system, despite it being spread of a large archipelago of islands. As
well as operating the fixed-line network, Dhiraagu, the country’s
incumbent telco, has also been operating an extensive mobile service.
Dhiraagu’s monopoly status was officially set to run out in 2008,
but, in 2004, a second mobile licence was issued by the government.
The new operator, Wataniya Telecom, launched its service in the
second half of 2005. By March 2006, it had signed up 64,000
subscribers. In the meantime, Dhiraagu had also increased its
subscriber base to 164,000, having managed to grow by 23% over the
previous 12 months. With the increased competition, the overall
market had reached an amazing 73% penetration by March 2007. For the
country overview, see chapter 6, page 83.

Nepal

Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the
world. Amid what has been an unsettled political climate that erupts
as a major problem from time to time the country has been moving
steadily towards a more liberalised telecom market. This included the
incumbent telco losing its monopoly status in the market. By April
2006, over 170 operators had been authorised to provide a wide range
of telecom services, including two for basic telephony and two for
the all-important mobile telephone service. Mobile services are
provided in the country by two operators - Nepal Telecom and newcomer
Spice Nepal. With Spice providing some serious competition to the
incumbent, the total mobile subscriber base had reached 600,000 by
March 2006 (penetration 2%), after the market had expanded by 100% in
2005. This rate of expansion continued and by March 2007, there were
1.2 million mobile subscribers in the country. For the country
overview, see chapter 7, page 86.

Pakistan

After a period in which the country slowly transitioned from one
dominated by a regulated state-owned monopoly to a comparatively
deregulated competitive structure, Pakistan’s telecom sector had
finally begun moving and looked set for an era of phenomenal growth.
Pakistan’s mobile sector, which had started to grow strongly over the
last few years, has been continuing its rapid expansion. After
growing by almost 170% in 2005 and 123% in 2006, the mobile
subscriber base had reached over 48 million (30% penetration) by
early 2007. The government’s reform plans were being progressively
implemented and this is certainly starting to have some impact on the
market. The country’s four mobile operators have been joined by two
new operators - Warid Telecom and Telenor Pakistan - following a
decision by the government to issue two additional mobile licences.
Both these new operators became very active in the market. By end-
2006, after less than two years operation, Telenor had 6.6 million
subscribers and Warid Telecom was claiming 7.6 million. For the
country overview, see chapter 8, page 89.

Sri Lanka’s

Sri Lanka has been demonstrating considerable determination in its
efforts to develop the country despite its ongoing political
problems. With a modern progressive telecommunications sector high on
the list, the sector looked to be well positioned for vigorous
growth. The country’s mobile sector expanded by almost 60% in 2006
and by March 2007 mobile penetration was 30%. At the same time, the
strong growth in mobile looks very much like it was set to continue.
For the country overview, see chapter 9, page 104.

Handset manufacturer Nokia yesterday announced the launch of breast
cancer awareness and free breast cancer screening programmes in
cooperation with Bangladesh Cancer Foundation Hospital (BCFH).

The two-week long programme beginning on November 2 will offer free
breast cancer diagnosis and consultations, Prem P Chand, general
manager of Nokia Emerging Asia, said at a press conference in Dhaka
yesterday.

As part of the programme, patients diagnosed with breast cancer will
also get treatment at subsidised fees.

Anyone can register for breast cancer test by calling 01713243601 and
01713243602.

“We will contact the persons who have registered when we will reach
their respective areas,” said Habibullah Talukder, secretary general
of Bangladesh Cancer Foundation (BCF).

Sales proceeds from Nokia’s newly launched Nokia 6300 crimson red
phone will also contribute to this cause, officials said in the
programme.

Mosarrat Jahan Talukder, chief executive, Board of Trustees of BCFH,
singer Sameena Chowdhury and actress Tazin Ahmed were also present at
the programme.

Earlier this month, Bangladeshi authorities ordered Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) to provide them with a complete list of Internet
subscribers and their confidential data in order to profile the
country’s Internet users.

According to the blog E-Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and
the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) wanted
names, addresses, connection and usage details and server passwords
among the information requested.

Members of RAB and BTRC also began searching homes with high-speed
Internet connections.

The lists and searches are all part of the Bangladeshi government’s
crackdown on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operators that
began
in December 2006. The government considers their businesses illegal
based on the Bangladesh Communications Act 2001. In July 2007, RAB
seized VoIP equipment and arrested two employees from Westecs
Bangladesh Ltd. This month, BTRC fined Banglalink for providing VoIP
services.

But according to Global Voices Online, a non-profit global media
website, the crackdown is partly motivated by declining revenues at
state telecommunication company Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph
Board. Small VoIP operators have proliferated in the absence of
regulations and offer cheaper services. Global Voices also suspects
the Bangladesh government is trying to eliminate the competition
before it grants VoIP licenses to four operators.

A senior BTRC official speaking on condition of anonymity with E-
Bangladesh, however, couldn’t explain why “regular home users” were
included in the VoIP crackdown.

In a BBC Bengali report, translated into English by E-Bangladesh,
international law expert and Catholic University of Brussels law
professor Ahmed Ziauddin said, “This issue is alarming… [Because]
BTRC is not clearly saying what they will do with this
information. ..
Section 43 of the Bangladesh Constitution provides [a citizen] the
privacy of his correspondence and other means of communication. ..
It
appears that BTRC’s actions are violating this provision.”

Bloggers are outraged and concerned. Mashuqur Rahman, who is also a
contributor for E-Bangladesh, wrote in his blog that bloggers have
filled the void of mainstream media in critically discussing the
government’s suppression of civil liberties. He believes the
Internet
subscriber list will be used against bloggers.

“The goal of the military government appears to be both to monitor
Internet activity in Bangladesh and to intimidate Internet users and
bloggers into silence.”

Interviews with ISP officials and a BTRC memo leaked to E-Bangladesh
confirm that all 72 ISPs in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet must also
install RAB “traffic scanners” on gateway routers and provide each
subscriber’s Multi Router Traffic Grapher URL user id and password,
which easily allows monitoring of Internet usage.

The number of mobile users in Bangladesh is around 32 million provided by the six operators, but most such connections were not properly registered

BTRC to block SIMs with fake addresses
Staff Correspondent

The cabinet committee on law and order on Thursday instructed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to block mobile connections with fake addresses used in criminal activities.
‘We have decided to ask the commission to block mobile SIMs if the addresses of the holders of the connections are found fake,’ said the home secretary, Abdul Karim, after a review meeting on law and order chaired by the law and information adviser, Mainul Hosein, at the home ministry.
The law enforcement agencies will provide the commission with information on connections used in criminal activities, said the officials present at the meeting.
The home ministry officials said the decision to block mobile SIMs used in wrongdoing was made as complaints have been lodged with the law enforcement agencies about receiving mobile calls in which money have been demanded or death and other types of threat have been made.
The number of mobile users in Bangladesh is around 32 million provided by the six operators, but most such connections were not properly registered for lack of a clear-cut policy.
The regulatory commission in February 2006, however, made a regulation making provisions for the subscribers to provide certain bits of information at the time of purchase of connections. It also instructed the mobile operators to re-register the connections bought before February 2006. The re-registration process of about 1 million subscribers was later delayed.
The commission in July instructed the operators to complete the re-registration of the mobile connections within two months, beginning in August 16, in accordance with the regulation to help the intelligence agencies to keep track of mobile users and to check, through tapping, whether they use them in unlawful activities. The commission later extended the re-registration deadline by two more months, scheduled to expire on December 16.
The commission in July also imposed a fine of $10 on each SIM for mobile operators if it finds the operators selling connections without registering the subscribers.

Source: The New Age

Warid Telecom has introduced lucrative incentives for its prepaid
subscribers on daily basis, says a press release.

Users of all Zem packages can get cash back everyday based on talk-time.

According to the offer, this cash back is rewarded over SMS instantly.
Subscribers will get cash back worth Tk 5 talk-time for Tk 30 usage, Tk
3 for usage of Tk 20, Tk 2 for usage of Tk 10 and Tk 1 for usage of Tk
5. Thus, a customer can start getting this cash-back from as low as Tk
5 usage, and earn up to Taka 11 everyday as cash- back!

All prepaid customers — ‘Zem’, ‘Zem 1 second’, ‘’Zem 24 hrs’, ‘Zem
FnF’, ‘Zem Fun’ and ‘Zem Fun Plus’ — are eligible for this cash back
offer. The reward amount can only be used for calls to other mobile
operators and the offer is valid till further announcement.

The HealthLine Service, a 24-hour medical call centre of
Grameenphone, has been re-launched recently by expanding its capacity
and streamlining the process in order to meet the increasing needs of
the callers, says a press release.

The HealthLine Service is operated in association with Telemedicine
Reference Centre Ltd (TRCL).

The HealthLine Service is an interactive teleconference between a
Grameenphone mobile user and a licensed physician, available round
the clock. Grameenphone subscribers may seek medical advice on
emergency, non-emergency or regular medical situation by just
dialing ‘789′.

Apart from the core medical consultation service, a 789-caller will
also enjoy additional medical information services. They can avail
doctor and medical facility information, drug information,
interpretation of laboratory test reports & data, and emergency
support information as supplementary services.

To make the HealthLine Service more accessible and easier to use, the
registration requirement has been withdrawn. This means that
Grameenphone subscribers simply have to dial 789 to receive the
medical advice and consultation service.

Mobile operator CityCell and private television channel Ntv have
renewed their agreement `CityCell Ntv news service’ at a function
held in the city recently.

Under the agreement, the CityCell subscribers can now enjoy the most
recent local, international and sports news telecast by Ntv by
dialing *777 of their phone. They can listen to their preferred news
at any time, said a press release.

Anand Rajasingham, head of marketing, CityCell, and Ataus Samad,
chief executive officer of Ntv, signed the renewed agreement on
behalf of their organisations.

Ranjan Kumar Dutta, general manager, sales and marketing, Khairul
Anwar, chief news editor, news and current affairs of Ntv, Sania
Mahmood, general manager, marketing communications and branding,
Ahmed Armaan Siddiqui, manager, product development, and Taslim
Abmed, manager, marketing communications, of CityCell were also
present at the signing ceremony along with other officials of both
the companies.

Mobile phone operator Grameenphone has launched a new offer with a
Nokia handset and a Smile BTTB connection along with special value-
added services at a lower price on the occasion of Ramadan and Eid-ul-
Fitr, said a press release.

Under the new offer, which took effect from September 25, the
customers can buy a Nokia 11101 handset together with a free Smile
BTTB connection for only Tk 2499 from any Grameenphone sales center,
including Grameenphone Centers and retail outlets, across the country.

Free value added services of the mobile phone operator have also been
included with the free Smile

BTTB connection, including seven ring tones, five welcome tunes (no
monthly fee till December 7), 100 SMS and 100 voice SMS.

Through this special offer in the month of Ramadan for only Tk 2499,
new customers will be able to enjoy a total Tk 3,685 worth of
products and services, including a Tk 300 Smile BTTB connection, Tk
685 worth of value added services, and a Nokia 11101 handset worth Tk
2700.

The offer of value added services will be applicable for the
following five months from the date of activation of the Grameenphone
connection.

Teletalk has reduced its pre-paid tariff. Now subscribers can call any
operator only at 1.10/min from 12pm to 6pm.
Prepaid SIM now only Tk 190 with free talk time Tk 120.

* This offer is valid for limited time!

Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) will introduce a new

phone service, for which the receiver will be charged, instead of the
caller, BTTB sources said.

The board will target enterprises, corporate bodies, companies and
business organisations subscribing to BTTB landlines. The subscribers
of the new service will get a free phone account against a maximum of
10 fixed BTTB numbers, they said.

Sources said the board has got allocation of 10-digit access code
from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for
launching the “free call service.” The usual users of land phone dial
seven digits. The last three digits in the 10-digit code would denote
subscriber’s identity.

The BTTB has already conducted a successful test-run of the system.
The board will operate the phone service formally through its
intelligent network platform installed at Maghbazar, they said.

The intelligent network is built on the existing telecommunications
network, which creates new services with the help of computer,
software and databases rapidly and cost-effectively, sources added.

Sources said the existing intelligent network platform bears the
capacity of 500 activated new phone service subscriber accounts. BTTB
will, therefore, provide a maximum of 500 new phone accounts under
the present contract and software licensing condition at the outset.