Augere Wireless Launches WiMax on Trial in Dhaka

Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd, one of the two WiMax licensees, launched high-speed broadband internet services yesterday on a trial basis with a focus for commercial operations.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith inaugurated the wireless internet technology, which will initially be launched in some areas of Gulshan and Banani on trial.

WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless digital communication system that can provide broadband wireless access across 30 miles for fixed phone and 3-10 miles for mobile stations.

Three bidders — BanglaLion Communication, BRAC BD Mail Network Ltd and Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd — won the WiMax licences through an auction organised by Bangla-desh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in September last year. However, BRAC later refused to take the licence.

The Tk 215 crore bid price had become a ‘double bind’ for both the telecom regulator and licensees. The regulator extended the deadline for launching WiMax services several times.

UK-based Augere Holdings owns 60 percent of Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd along with two other local companies. Teleport Bangladesh owns 30 percent and Aamra Resources Ltd owns 10 percent in the company.

“Technology must be welcomed, but we should avoid a digital divide. WiMax is a technology that can be availed anywhere,” he said.

Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, telecommunication minister, Abul Kalam Azad, information minister, Zia Ahmed, BTRC chairman, and Jerry Mobbs, chief executive officer of Augere Bangladesh, were also present at the launch at the Westin Dhaka.

“The real internet experience is here,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of Augere Holdings.

Augere Bangladesh is poised to meet demand for the internet using WiMax technology, he said.

Bangladesh, with the lowest internet penetration in the world at 4 percent, will be exposed to high-speed wireless internet by the launch of the WiMax technology. At present, the country has four million internet users.

source: thedailystar.net

Discussion about WiMax in Bangladesh: BanglaLion to start WiMax services soon

BanglaLion is starting WiMax services in Bangladesh from 1st of June, 2009. Now the tension grows,

How will be the service?
What will be the speed? Will it be dedicated?
How much affordable it would be?
Whether it will be available in our area?
What value add it will do in terms of speed, affordability & availability when comparing to existing services (GP/Citycell internet and other Internet services)?

Although the packages have been published, the speed and necessary cost failed to satisfy many of us who were eagerly waiting for its successful operations in the country. Just to reiterate below is the packages,

BanglaLion WiMax Service Package:
1. Home User/Individual for Tk 600/Month
2. Corporate (5-10 users) for Tk 550/Month
3. Corporate (10 users above) for Tk 500/Month
4. Day User (Max 3GB) for Tk 45/Day
5. Night Package (12 AM to 9 AM =9 hrs) for Tk 300/Month

If you want to register, pls click here: http://www.banglalion.com.bd/BDLION/index.php

BanglaLion contact information:

BanglaLion Communications
House # 67, Road # 1, Block # I, Banani
Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh
Phone : (880 2) 8814059-60
Fax : (880 2) 9885647

From their website,

Phone :036-99350033, 036-99350000
Email:
info@banglalion.com.bd
corporate@banglalion.com.bd
dealers@banglalion.com.bd
services@banglalion.com.bd

You can post your comments/feelings/thoughts about WiMax in Bangladesh and recent operations by BanglaLion Communications.

Updates:

31-May-2009:
BanglaLion is not going to start WiMAX from 1st June, it may take 2/3 months more to start officially, this is due to technical issues and setup. However they expect to go with test-run from 1st June.

On the other hand Augere is having frequency issues and then can only start trial after AUgust.

BanglaLion to start WiMax operation from 1st June in Bangladesh

 

Banglalion Communications has officially announced about launching WiMax operations in Bangladesh from 1st of June 2009.

It says on the advertisement on Daily Ittefaq that the minimum speed would be 128 kbps (16.0 KB) up to several Mbps including coporate business offer.

BanglaLion will offer several tariff plans at a minimum 128 kbps speed :

1. Home User/Individual for Tk 600/Month
2. Corporate (5-10 users) for Tk 550/Month
3. Corporate (10 users above) for Tk 500/Month
4. Day User (Max 3GB) for Tk 45/Day
5. Night Package (12 AM to 9 AM =9 hrs) for Tk 300/Month

If you want to register, pls click here: http://www.banglalion.com.bd/BDLION/index.php

Contact of BanglaLion:
I got below one from my previous post,

BanglaLion Communications
House # 67, Road # 1, Block # I, Banani
Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh
Phone : (880 2) 8814059-60
Fax : (880 2) 9885647

Recently from their site,

Phone :036-99350033, 036-99350000
Email:
info@banglalion.com.bd
corporate@banglalion.com.bd
dealers@banglalion.com.bd
services@banglalion.com.bd

I am eagerly waiting to see its services.

This post has been locked for posting comments. Pls follow my new thread to continue discussion on this topic.

What is WiMax: A Simple Approach to Understand WiMax

Figure 1 WiMAX has the potential to impact all forms of telecommunications

WiMAX has the potential to replace a number of existing telecommunications infrastructures. In a fixed wireless configuration it can replace the telephone company’s copper wire networks, the cable TV’s coaxial cable infrastructure while offering Internet Service Provider (ISP) services. In its mobile variant, WiMAX has the potential to replace cellular networks. How do we get there?

What is WiMAX or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access? WiMAX is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, see http://www.ieee.org) standard designated 802.16-2004 (fixed wireless applications) and 802.16e-2005 (mobile wire-less). The industry trade group WiMAX ForumTM (http://www.wimaxforum.org ) has defined WiMAX as a “last mile” broadband wireless access (BWA) alternative to cable modem service, telephone company Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or T1/E1 service.

Fixed WiMAX

Figure 2 Fixed WiMAX offers cost effective point to point and point to multi-point solutions

What makes WiMAX so exciting is the broad range of applications it makes possible but not limited to broadband internet access, T1/E1 substitute for businesses, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) as telephone company substitute, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) as cable TV substitute, backhaul for Wi-Fi hotspots and cell phone towers, mobile telephone service, mobile data TV, mobile emergency response services, wireless backhaul as substitute for fiber optic cable.

WiMAX provides fixed, portable or mobile non-line-of sight service from a base station to a subscriber station, also known as customer premise equipment (CPE). Some goals for WiMAX include a radius of service coverage of 6 miles from a WiMAX base station for point-to-multipoint, non-line-of-sight (see following pages for illustrations and definitions) service. This service should deliver approximately 40 megabits per second (Mbps) for fixed and portable access applications. That WiMAX cell site should offer enough bandwidth to support hundreds of businesses with T1 speeds and thousands of residential customers with the equivalent of DSL services from one base station.

Mobile WiMAX

Figure 3 Mobile WiMAX allows any telecommunications to go mobile

Mobile WiMAX takes the fixed wireless application a step further and enables cell phone-like applications on a much larger scale. For example, mobile WiMAX enables streaming video to be broadcast from a speeding police or other emergency vehicle at over 70 MPH. It potentially replaces cell phones and mobile data offerings from cell phone operators such as EvDo, EvDv and HSDPA. In addition to being the final leg in a quadruple play, it offers superior building penetration and improved security measures over fixed WiMAX. Mobile WiMAX will be very valuable for emerging services such as mobile TV and gaming.

WiMAX is not Wi-Fi

Figure 4 Where Wi-Fi covers an office or coffee shop, WiMAX covers a city

One of the most often heard descriptions of WiMAX in the press is that it is “Wi-Fi on steroids”. In truth, it is considerably more than that. Not only does WiMAX offer exponentially greater range and throughput than Wi-Fi (technically speaking 802.11b, although new variants of 802.11 offer substantial improvements over the “b” variant of 802.11), it also offers carrier grade quality of service (QoS) and security. Wi-Fi has been notorious for its lack of security. The “b” variant of 802.11 offered no prioritization of traffic making it less than ideal for voice or video. The limited range and throughput of Wi-Fi means that a Wi-Fi service provider must deploy multiple access points in order to cover the same area and service the same number of customers as one WiMAX base station (note the differences in nomenclature). The IEEE 802.11 Working group has since approved upgrades for 802.11 security and QoS.

Converged voice and data easy as FM radio?

Figure 5 With WiMAX, converged voice and data can be as easy as FM radio

Visualize turning on an FM radio in your office. You receive information (news, weather, sports) from that service (the FM radio station) and hardware (the FM radio with attached antenna). WiMAX can be described as being somewhat similar. In place of a radio station there is a base station (radio and antenna) that transmits information (internet access, VoIP, IPTV) and the subscriber has a WiMAX CPE that receives the services. The major difference is that with WiMAX the service is two-way or interactive.

Figure 6 WiMAX indoor CPE goes near the window and attaches to the customer’s network

courtesy: wimax.com

Guidelines for use of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Technology in Bangladesh

I get to manage the draft guideline below that has been posted in BTRC website. You can have a look.

——————————————————————————————————————-

BANGLADESH TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATORY COMMISSION

Guidelines for use of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Technology in Bangladesh

1. INTRODUCTION:

1.1.    Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has the responsibility under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001 (the Act) to ensure access to reliable and reasonably priced Internet-services for the greater number of people, as far as practicable. With this aim in view, the Commission is considering the use of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Technology for last mile access solutions to open up new possibilities and create enabling situation for greater Internet penetration at an affordable cost.

1.2.    The Commission is hereby providing guidelines for the approved commercial/non-commercial use of the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band frequencies in Bangladesh using the Wi-Fi technology in order to ensure rapid expansion of services and accelerated increase in Internet penetration.

1.3.    These guidelines are to be read subject to the Act and other relevant laws and in conjunction with the respective operators’ license conditions.

1.4.    These guidelines may be withdrawn, revised, updated or amended from time to time, without any prior notice, to take into consideration various factors including but not limited to, any threat to public health, national interest, national security and pursuant to statute or court orders.

2. OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES:

2.1.    As per the National Frequency Allocation Plan 2005 (NFAP 2005), spectrum from the ISM band in 2.4000-2.4835 GHz and 5.725-5.875 GHz is allocated for Wi-Fi use.

2.2.    Access to the spectrum will be on shared basis. There will be no exclusive assignment to any individual or organizations, whether for private, public or commercial use.

2.3.    Any Government or Private Organization/Educational Institution/Corporate Body can establish and use Wi-Fi Network on non commercial/non-profit basis.

2.4.    Household/private users are not required to take any permission from the Commission or pay any levy/charge for using Wi-Fi in the given ISM band.

2.5.    Both indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi is permitted in the given spectrum of ISM band. However, the maximum power output for the Wi-Fi equipment is limited to 1 watt.

2.6.    All commercial Wi-Fi Hotspot operators/service providers shall possess an ISP or equivalent License (e.g., BWA License). Existing operators having such License from the Commission will be eligible to establish Wi-Fi network for providing last mile solution.

2.7.    Operators/service providers will submit a detailed list of Wi-Fi outdoor Hotspots to the Commission. There will be levy/charges applicable annually for all hotspots. The levy/charge shall be charged as per the Rate List published by the Commission.

2.8.    All service providers will obtain permission in the form of No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Commission for importation, deployment, use and providing any service with Wi-Fi equipment. Guideline for Application and Application form is available at http://www.btrc.gov.bd. Existing ISM band operators who wish to adapt their present Wi-Fi equipment for the same purpose may also be provided permission from the Commission on case by case basis.

2.9.    All vendors in possession of “Dealer Possession And Radio Communication Equipment Vendor License” issued by the Commission are eligible to apply for NOC for importation and marketing of Wi-Fi equipment in Bangladesh.

2.10.The Commission reserves the right to cancel the permission if any complication arises anytime.

Link: here