About Grameenphone
Grameenphone Ltd. is the largest telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh with more than 22 million subscribers as of October 2009. Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh when it launched its services in March 1997. With a nationwide network that covers almost 100 percent of the population, Grameenphone’s entire network is EDGE/GPRS enabled and so all our subscribers have access to the internet and approximately 4.5 million people are using our internet services. Grameenphone is a joint venture between Telenor (62%) of Norway and Grameen Telecom (38%) of Bangladesh.

 

Grameenphone is a public limited company listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited and Chittagong Stock Exchange Limited.

 

Contribution to Government Exchequer
The company has so far invested more than BDT 14,500 crore to build the network and infrastructure since its inception, as well as the largest tax payer in recent years with the cumulative contribution to the National Exchequer standing at over BDT 14,000 crore, as of third quarter of 2009.

In fact for every BDT 100 Grameenphone earns, BDT 48 is paid to the National Exchequer in direct and indirect taxes.

 

Grameenphone has over 12,000 base stations across the country. These base stations are in itself a huge investment into the business and the country. Thanks to this re-investment, Grameenphone can provide the best, widest and clearest network in Bangladesh.

 

Employment
Grameenphone has also generated direct and indirect employment for a large number of people over the years. The company presently has over 4,800 employees with another 150,000 people are directly dependent on Grameenphone for their livelihood, working for the Grameenphone dealers, retailers, scratch card retail outlets, suppliers, vendors, contractors and other business partners.

 

Narrowing the digital divide in Bangladesh

Grameenphone has been actively working to narrow the digital divide since its inception. The Village Phone project, which started on the same day as Grameenphone’s commercial operations, is such an example.

The Village Phone Program was a unique initiative to provide Universal Access to telecommunications service in remote, rural areas. Village Phones have proven their immense potential in boosting income of poor households in rural areas, promoting health care, development of agri-business and in the social empowerment of rural women.

 

Similarly Grameenphone has a few more innovative services and products, like the EDGE modem, already active in the market that are doing a lot to narrow the digital divide between the rural and urban areas and making people’s lives easier by using technology to benefit the underserved.

 

GP was awarded the "GSM in the Community Award" for its Village Phone program in February, 2000.

HealthLine: The HealthLine Service, open 24-hours a day and 7-days a week, is a Medical Call Center manned by licensed physicians that allows Grameenphone subscribers an opportunity to consult a doctor, through an interactive teleconference, for health-related advice. It also maintains a large countrywide database of doctors, hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers and refers patients nearest to their locations.

In February 2007, Grameenphone was presented with the 3GSMA Global Mobile Award 2007 for its HealthLine Service, again in the category of "Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development."

 

Community Information Centers (CIC): Grameenphone initiated the Community Information Center (CIC) project in 2006. CICs are internet kiosks, set up through independent entrepreneurs across rural Bangladesh. CICs are providing access to the internet through Grameenphone’s nationwide EDGE-enabled network.

Currently there are over 500 CICs across the country. These Centers have narrowed the gaping digital divide between the urban and rural populace, giving over 20 million people access to the Internet and email service for the first time.

 

Community Information Centers are equipped with the minimum of a computer, a printer, a scanner, a web-cam and an EDGE-enabled modem to access the network. Set up on shared premises in select rural markets around the country, CICs are designed to be run independently as small businesses by local entrepreneurs.

Presently access to passport forms, birth and death certificates forms and other related information are available through the Government websites. Market prices of agricultural produce are also available through the website of the Agricultural Extension Department.

 

CellBazaar: CellBazaar is an innovative market-access service from Grameenphone. The service brings the benefits of information exchange, community networking and one-to-many trading to a previously unwired rural population.

 

Grameenphone was awarded the 3GSMA Global Mobile Award 2008 for its CellBazaar service in the category of "Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development," the second consecutive year that the company received this prestigious honor.

 

The award, announced in Barcelona, Spain in February 2008, was yet another recognition of Grameenphone’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in Bangladesh through innovative use of technology to solve a socio-economic problems through the harmonization of business with social development.

 

BillPay Service: The BillPay Service, introduced in Chittagong in 2006, enables Power Development Board (PDB) customers in Chittagong to pay their bills electronically at any GP authorized BillPay center. The service is reliable, quick and convenient, ensuring end-to-end transparency and ultimate convenience for the electricity consumers.

 

This was the first time a mobile phone operator launched a service with "universal access" for all citizens, i.e. equal service to anybody with or without a mobile phone from any operator.

Since its launch, the BillPay service has been extended to collecting payment for Titas Gas and DPDC (formerly DESA), DESCO (Dhaka Electric Supply Company) and BGSL (Bakhrabad Gas Systems Ltd.) till date.

 

Studyline: The Studyline service is that latest e-service introduced by Grameenphone and is aimed to help the students and their guardians gather admission-related information over the mobile phone.

The Studyline service is accessible from any Grameenphone connection through a short code and all calls are attended by human agents. The service offers admission information on local schools, colleges, and universities, admission procedures for renowned universities around the world, information on standardized test like IELTS, SAT, GMAT, GRE etc, in addition to other relevant services.

Since information is available to anyone from anywhere in the country, access to accurate information will no longer be centralized in Dhaka. As people at the rural level are able to get quick and easy access to information on higher studies it saves both time and cost of traveling to cities for collecting information.