The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORTER

Grameenphone Ltd inaugurated a Grameenphone Centre (GPC) and two Community Information Centres (CICs) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts on Sunday. Grameenphone recently completed providing network coverage in the three hill districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari.

The Grameenphone network now covers all 64 districts of the country, bringing almost the entire population under its coverage. There are more than 11,000 base stations in over 6,200 locations in operation in the Grameenphone network.

Grameenphone CEO inaugurated a Grameenphone Centre and a CIC at Rangamati on Sunday.

Vice-Chairman, Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board SM Ashraful Islam, Khalid Hassan, Director Corporate Affairs, Rubaba Dowla, Director Marketing and Mohd Aulad Hossain, Head of Regional Sales Chittagong of Grameenphone were also present at the inauguration ceremony.

Earlier in the morning, Grameenphone CEO Anders Jensen inaugurated a CIC at Khagrachari to provide access to the Internet and other information-based services in the area. Khagrachari Zilla Parishad Chairman Monindra Lal Tripura was also present at the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion the Grameenphone CEO said that it is truly an exciting time, and that 'as (Grameenphone's) subscriber base expands in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, new subscribers will experience access to information that would have been impossible without mobile networks.'

Grameenphone Centers are Grameenphone's flagship sales and service points. It is a one-stop shop, manned by professional sales and service people, to help customers pay their mobile bills, change a subscription, buy a new connection or replace a mobile phone, and more, all under one roof.

A Grameenphone Community Information Center is a shared premise where rural people may access a wide-range of state of art services such as Internet, and other web-based information services. Set up with technical assistance from the GSM Association, Grameenphone Community Information Centers are equipped with the minimum of a computer, a printer, a scanner, a webcam and an EDGE-enabled modem, to access the Internet using Grameenphone's nationwide EDGE connectivity.