The New Nation - Internet Edition

NATION BUSINESS REPORT

A partnership agreement was signed between Grameenphone Ltd and Bangladesh Post Office (BPO) at a hotel in the city yesterday.

Under the terms of the agreement the GP is supplying over 24,000 special SIM cards to the employees of BPO working in over 8,000 extra departmental sub and branch post offices of BPO across the country.

The special SIM cards from Grameenphone will feature a combination of the Flexiload and GPPP facilities, for the postmen to use to supplement their income in the rural areas and facilitate communication among them.

Grameenphone CEO Oddvar Hesjedal and Director General, BPO, Mobasherur Rahman, were at hand to inaugurate the partnership.

Brig Gen MA Malek (Retd), Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Major General Manjurul Alam, ndc, psc (Retd), Chairman, Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Rubaba Dowla, Director, Marketing, Grameenphone Ltd, Syed Yamin Bakht, Director, Public Relations, Grameenphone Ltd, and other senior officials of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Bangladesh Post Office, and Grameenphone were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, the Grameenphone CEO, said "Grameenphone has always worked to take communication solutions to the masses, bringing communities and families closer. In that way this partnership with the Bangladesh Post Office is a natural extension of our services."

Grameenphone signed the agreement with the BPO in September this year, in response to an Expression of Interest (EoI) advertisement published by the BPO in March.

The EoI asked for a solution that would not only generate income for the post office employees working in the rural areas but also facilitate the communication among the said employees.

The SIM which are being supplied to the BPO for their rural post office employees blends FlexiLoad with Grameenphone's voice and data products and services; HealthLine and BillPay services will also be incorporated in the future.

"I see another big success in our hands. What's more, this partnership will not only be a revenue generating source for the rural post-office employees and the central BPO, but will in turn give rural people access to modern telecommunication solutions," added the GP CEO.