Djuice the digital sensation

Grameen phone in brief:

1. GrameenPhone Limited, the number one and leading mobile phone company in the area of telecommunications in Bangladesh. Of four mobile operators, GP managed to grab 62% of the market share only by providing cost-effective & best service available in the market of mobile telecommunication. GP has made its expansion not only in the urban areas, but also it stretched its network in the rural areas for the economic empowerment of the rural people. Grameen Phone has made a special arrangement with Grameen Telecom, an affiliate of Grameen Bank in providing the cellular services in the rural country

2. Grameen Phone believes Excellency in its service towards its subscribers. It is growing and at the same time being competitive. To keep up this upward trend and leading position absolute dedication to understanding and fulfilling their customer needs with the appropriate mix of standard service, reliability, improved technology and skilled as well as dedicated manpower is necessary.

Historical Background

1. November 28, 1996: GrameenPhone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

2. March 26, 1997: GrameenPhone launched its service on the Independence Day of Bangladesh.

3. After eight years of operation, GrameenPhone has more than 5 million subscribers as of November 2005.

The Vision, The Mission and The Objective

Company Vision

“Ideas that Simplify”

Company Mission

The vision will be achieved by

· Connecting Bangladesh with ease and care.

Objectives of the Grameen Phone

Grameen Phone’s basic strategy is the coverage of both urban and rural areas. The Company has devised its strategies so that it earns healthy returns for its shareholders and at the same time, contributes to genuine development of the country. In short, it pursues a dual strategy of good business and good development.

Serving the mass market is one of GP’s primary goals. By serving the general public as opposed to niche markets, the Company plans to achieve economies of scale and healthy profits. At the same time, service to the general public means connectivity to a wider population and general economic development of the country. In contrast to the “island” strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, Grameen Phone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell.

While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Grameen Phone’s network. In addition, GP has positioned itself to capitalize on the declining prices of handsets, making its goal to serve the general public realistic.

The Purpose

Grameen Phone has a dual purpose: to receive an economic return on its investments and to contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh where telecommunications can play a critical role. This is why Grameen Phone, in collaboration with Grameen Bank, is aiming to place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic uplift of those villages.

The Strategy

Grameen Phone’s basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. In contrast to the “island” strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links,

Grameen Phone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area

depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Grameen Phone’s network.

The People

The people who are making it happen – the employees – are young, dedicated and energetic. All of them are well educated at home or abroad, with both sexes (genders) and minority groups in Bangladesh being well represented. They know in their hearts that GrameenPhone is more than just about phones. This sense of purpose gives them the dedication and the drive, producing – in about three years – the biggest coverage and subscriber-base in the country. GrameenPhone knows that the talents and energy of its employees are critical to its operation and treats them accordingly.

The Technology

GrameenPhone’s Global System for Mobile or GSM technology is the most widely accepted digital system in the world, currently used by over 300 million people in 150 countries. GSM brings the most advanced developments in

cellular technology at a reasonable cost by spurring severe competition among manufacturers and driving down the cost of equipment. Thus consumers get the best for the least.

The Service

GrameenPhone believes in service, a service that leads to good business and good development. Telephony helps people work together, raising their productivity. This gain in productivity is development, which in turn enables them to afford a telephone service, generating a good business. Thus development and business go together.

The Result

By bringing electronic connectivity to rural Bangladesh, GrameenPhone is delivering the digital revolution to the doorsteps of the poor and unconnected. By being able to connect to urban areas or even to foreign countries, a whole new world of opportunity is opening up for the villagers in Bangladesh. Grameen Bank borrowers who provide the services are uplifting themselves economically through a new means of income generation while at the same time providing valuable phone service to their fellow villagers. The telephone is a weapon against poverty.

Shareholders of GrameenPhone

The shareholders of GrameenPhone contribute their unique, in-depth experience in both telecommunications and development.

The international shareholder brings technological and business management expertise while the local shareholder provides a presence throughout Bangladesh and a deep understanding of its economy. Both are dedicated to Bangladesh and its struggle for economic progress and have a deep commitment to Grameen Phone and its mission to provide affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh.

Telenor Mobile Communications AS

Telenor AS is the leading Telecommunications Company of Norway listed in the Oslo and NASDAQ Stock Exchanges. It owns 62% shares of GrameenPhone Ltd. Telenor has played a pioneering role in development of cellular communications. It has substantial international operations in mobile telephony, satellite operations and pay Television services. In addition to Norway and Bangladesh, Telenor owns GSM companies in Denmark, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Thailand and Malaysia. It has recently started a mobile phone operation in Pakistan.

Telenor uses the expertise it has gained in its home and international markets for the development of emerging mobile user markets in the arena of Bangladesh.

Grameen Telecom

Grameen Telecom, which owns 38% of the shares of GrameenPhone, is a not-for-profit company and works in close collaboration with Grameen Bank. The internationally reputed bank for the poor, has the most extensive rural banking network and expertise in microfinance. It understands the economic needs of the rural population, in particular the women from the poorest households.

At the end of the year, the bank had 3.78 million borrowers, 95 percent of whom were women.

Grameen Telecom’s objectives are to provide easy access to GSM cellular services in rural Bangladesh, creating new opportunities for income generation through self- employment by providing villagers with access to modern information and communication based technologies. The percentage of share in graphical form is given below:

Organizational Structure

The organization tree of Grameen Phone is given below:

THE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Departments and Divisions

Recently management has brought a change in the organizational structure in view of need of time. As of the recent change, line function of the company comprises of the 3 different tasks. These are:

· Build & Operate

1 Sell

2 Care

Accordingly 3 main divisions were identified as the line organization part of the company. These are:

· Technical Division.

· Sales and Marketing Division.

Besides there are:

· Finance Division.

· Administrative Division.

As I am serving in CMD, the organization structure of CMD will be given in details only.

Total number of Employee:

According to Grameen Phone on 4th June, 2005, the number of employees in different departments are:

Division

Number of Employees
Technical 419
Marketing & Sales 174
Customer Management 257
Finance 94
Information Technology 94
Personnel and Organization 86
Corporate affairs 50
Human Resource 22
DMDs OFFICE 107
MDs OFFICE 09
Contingent Employee 1300
Total 2612

Customer Management Division

Maintaining high quality service is one of the major requirements of large market service oriented companies like Grameen Phone. The organ gram of Customer Management Division:

Figure 1.4: Organogram of Customer Management Division

Customer Care

Customer care bridges customers and the company. It works with the objective to meet all kinds of queries from customer and provide optimum solutions. There are 135 personnel working under the supervision of one Additional General Manager and one Deputy General Manager.

Network and Network Coverage of Grameen Phone

Grameen Phone aims to build a full range of service all over the country. The company has targeted to build extensive network all over the country. For better coverage, GP has taken 1600 Km fiber optic cable network leased from Bangladesh Railway. In April 2004, GP had 750 base stations. In May’05, it had 1750 base stations. Furthermore, considering the subscribers’ need of quality network and extensive coverage. The company is planning to set up another thousand base stations in the current year.

Recently GP has doubled its speech quality 900GSM MHz to 1800GSm MHz. Already the company has expanded its network to 61 districts out of 64 districts and 400 upazillas out of 460 upazillas. It’s the only company which covers the most of the land areas with its net work. Approximately 52% land area is covered by Grameen Phone’s network. In over all, Grameen Phone offers the most competitive network facility to its subscribers, and continue improving it.

Existing coverage areas are divided into six zones according to the divisional boundary. These are

· Dhaka · Sylhet
· Chittagong · Rajshahi
· Khulna · Barisal

 

 

 

Grameen Phone’s district coverage

Net Work coverage of Grameen Phone.

The zone in which a subscriber is registered with Grameen Phone is that subscriber’s Home Zone, and all other zones are Remote Zones.

Distribution Channel

If there is a gap in the distribution channel, the marketer is unable to reach its products/services to the customers in time.

GP decided to distribute its products through its own distribution channel. And the agents would sell the mobiles to the customers. As GP’s growth rate is very high, there are many interested people who want to become distributor of Grameen Phone. But GP has some strict policies that are maintained while giving permission to the new sales agents.

Moreover, GP has agreements with established distribution channels like Butterfly, Flora, and Rangs; who are also acting as GP’s distributors. Currently the number of distributors in the country is over 430.

Grameen Phone’s yearly increase of Point of Sale

At the beginning, GP started its sale through only 12 POS (Point of Sales) around the country. Then simultaneously its POS have been increasing with growing demand of mobile service. The total number of Points of Sales in the GP distribution network increased to 391 in December 2003 from 353 in December 2002. Recently, total Number Point of Sales is 1047 as of March’05. Meanwhile GP has 75 Scratch Card distributors with 14,500 retail outlets throughout the Country.

Industry Analysis

Background of the Industry

In a highly populated country like Bangladesh, telecommunication can play a vital role to boost the economy and social level of people. The introduction of cellular phones has dramatically changed the lives of businesses and individuals.

As there is a growing trend of workers turning from farming to other occupations, the need for mobiles is increasing among the thousands of impoverished villages. The overall efficiency of other business has increased as an aftermath of the government’s decision of deregulating the telecommunications sector, which until the late 1980s had been a state monopoly.

Privatization of the telecommunications sector began in 1989, when Sheba and BRTA were awarded 25-year licenses to install and operate fixed-wire lines and wireless services in rural areas. The same year, Pacific Telecom Bangladesh got the government’s permission to launch the country’s first cellular phone and paging service sold under brand name CityCell in collaboration with a Hong Kong-based company.

The company targeted only the higher class of the society. During that time price of mobile was above Tk 50,000/=. Naturally, the growth of the industry was too slow. CityCell had a virtual monopoly until 1996, when the government gave licenses to three more companies to operate cell phones in Bangladesh. So, the government decided to bring more companies in the market and break the monopoly.

After careful evaluation the government decided to provide three licenses to GrameenPhone, TM International (Robi), and Sheba Telecom (Banglalink). Only CityCell is using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, Robi, GrameenPhone, Banglalink these three companies are using GSM (Global System for Mobile) technology. GSM is the most popular mobile telecommunication technology in the world. About 60% of the cell phone users of the world use GSM technology.

These three new companies entered the market, not only helped trim down over-dependence on BTTB’s fixed-line system, but also made mobile phones cheaper and easier to get. The price of a cell phone came down from $2,000 to as low as $100, depending on the features of the handset and SIM price is only Tk.200-300.

A definite development has been observed in the Business Market with comparatively high expectations. Customer maturity and anticipation regarding technology has increased over time. Rumors regarding new entrants have groomed expectations in the market. Consequently, people are expecting cheaper handsets with lowered airtime.

Telecom Market Growth

At the initial stage of the mobile telecom industry because of high startup cost and high tariff there was only a few numbers of subscribers. In 1997 there were approximately 23,000 mobile subscribers around the country with a low market penetration rate (.02%). At present, the number of mobile users in the country is approximately 5.87 million and among them GP’s subscribers are over 3.5 million. Right now, in mobile industry, Bangladesh has four private companies and newly Teletalk a sister concern of BTTB has entered in the market with a target to get 0.25 million subscribers by first 6 months of launch and 1 million by 2006. Teletalk has offered lower rate with PSTN connection all over the country.

The total number of districts covered in mobile industry has been increased to 61 in 2004 from 1in 1997. The total telecom growth has increased to 55% in 2004 from 19% in 1998. Initially, mobile growth rate was too high which was 178% in 1998 and now it is come into 67% in 2004. That means this industry is now going to its maturity stage. From the comparison of different operators’ subscriber base, it can be concluded that GP is still leading the way with a sharp distance. Though Citycell is the first mobile operator in Bangladesh, it is not doing its business so good. It is increasing its subscriber from 2000 in 1997 to 370000 in 2004. On the other hand, AkTel is growing its subscribers faster than Citycell which is from 3000 in 1997 to 1000000 in 2004.

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Market Penetration 0.02% 0.05% 0.10% 0.21% 0.53% 0.87% 1.88% 3.13%
Districts Covered 1 2 26 36 40 49 59 61
Mobile Growth rate 178% 96% 121% 149% 65% 116% 67%
Telecom Growth Rate 19% 17% 34% 66% 42% 40% 55%
Subscriber Base
Grameen

Phone18,00030,00060,000191,690471,371775,3101878,0002424,177Citycell2,00019,00026,20033,500100,000160,0002250000370,000AkTel3,00012,00028,50034,20096,000150,000300,0001000,000BanglaLink3,00011,00019,00027,00060,00070,000100,000

Development of the Telecom Market 1997-2004

The penetration rate of mobile phone industry in Bangladesh is increasing rapidly. The rate was increasing slowly from 1997 to 1999. After that, the rate was increasing faster and now till March” 05 the penetration rate is 3.48% and only Grameen Phone’s penetration rate is 2.12%. Fixed network penetration is .72%.

MOBILE OPERATORS SUBSCRIBER BASE (EOY March 05)

Market Share of Mobile Operators

The mobile phone market consists of four operators. Out of which, 61% share of the market belongs to GP, 8% to CityCell, 28% to AkTel, and the rest 3% to Banglalink as of March, 05. GP holding the major share maintains a ‘market leader’ strategy to all other players in

the market. The telecom market intends to grow at penetration rate of more than 3.48%; where GP has already penetrated at 2.12%.

MARKET SHARE OF MOBILE OPERATORS (EOY March 05)

Company Target Customer Price & Tariff Quality Technology Strategy
Corporate/

 

 

IndividualLowDeteriorating servicesCDMANetwork expansion & attractive products

Corporate/SME/ IndividualCompetitiveHigh quality service but limited coverageGSMIncrease coverage and market share Corporate/SME/ IndividualVery affordableLow quality and limited coverageGSMIncrease coverage and Market share Corporate/

SME/

IndividualCompetitiveGood network with wider coverageGSMTo maintain the no. 1 position as a cell phone operator

Relative position of mobile phone operators

Target customers are almost same for the four mobile operators. Regarding to price and tariff, AkTel and Grameen Phone are very much competitive. Banglalink’s price and tariff is very affordable and Citycell is able to give low price to its subscribers.

In case of service quality and network coverage, GrameenPhone is leading the number one position among them. Only Citycell use CDMA technology and others three use GSM technology. By this, Citycell differentiates its products from the others. Except GP, Other operators’ recent strategy is increase coverage and market share through attractive products. On the other hand, GP’s strategy is to maintain its number one position.

Highlights of Competitive Positioning of Mobile Operators

³ The operators have been engaged in intense competition in terms of start-up cost and tariff. Most of the competitors of GP has adopted and will adopt network expansion strategy.

³ The mobile phone market consists of four operators, out of which, 61% share (End of March 2005) of the market belongs to GP.

³ Good relationship with regularity authority is strength of some of the other mobile operators while GP has achieved it to some extent by abiding by laws and showing positive results.

Current Market Scenario

The telecom market is experiencing a transition period, at present. Singtel has already come up with CityCell to invest in the mobile telecom market of Bangladesh. Another Egyptian company named as Orascom has bought all the share of BanglaLink and planed to invest a huge amount to capture a market share of 300,000 by the mid of 2005. Flat duty has been introduced for network equipment hardware. GSM product of Bangladesh is now considered to be most economical in the region even though the startup cost has increased to BDT 5000 for mobile phones.

The parties involved in mobile and fixed telephony business have taken appropriate measures to improve their products and services accordingly. BTTB has lowered its start up cost in small towns. They have also reduced their NWD and ISD call rates. New areas of North Bengal have come under coverage through other mobile operators. CityCell and AkTel have launched pre-paid service with PSTN access.

AkTel and BanglaLink have reduced their monthly access fee. Moreover, Citycell has introduced Super Off-peak rates for efficient use of technical facilities. For reducing the complexity of talk time charge, Banglalink has introduced new charge for all time which is less than 2.50 Tk/minute. Offering free talk time and free SMS is now becoming the hottest promotional tool for being competitive in the market.

Besides improved products, services, and better deals, the competitors are also competing with distinct communication strategies. They are also trying to expand their distribution network. CityCell has signed two big distributors, namely Singer and Sony.

BANGLADESH TELECOM OUTLOOK 2005

Social Commitment of GrameenPhone

Orphanage Project: The orphanage is situated at Vatara Bazar, Baridhara, Dhaka. At present 75 children are residing there. Twenty five staffs are employed for overall look after of the children. The children are aged between 4 and 15 years The orphanage is a project of CDP (Children development program) and is funded by Telenor, the major(51%) share holder of GP.

Dhaka Shishu Hospital Project: GrameenPhone has sponsored one of the wards of Dhaka Shishu Hospital (ward #4) with various utility facilities like Pure Drinking Water, providing Bed linen, utensils, mosquito net etc.

Preventive & Protective measures against some deadly diseases:

Against Dengue:

a) Awareness buildup:

i) To create awareness against deadly diseases like dengue GP has published articles dealing with the preventive and protective measure of this disease in their monthly newsletter and in form of booklets.

ii) GP has also provided in field and in house training to create awareness among people of different classes of society.

iii) GP uses its sources in its regional offices in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna And Sylhet to create awareness against this disease in those cities.

b) Spraying against Mosquito: With collaboration to Dhaka City Corporation GP has sprayed aerosol for destroying mosquito in areas like Fourth class employees colony of D.C.C in Gulshan1,Gp office premises and in locality of Gulshan circle 1 & 2.

c) Cleanliness Program: GP has sponsored Cleanliness programs in its own locality and in slam areas of Gulshan to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes and for healthy environment.

Awareness about EPI diseasesGrameenPhone has extended its hand of cooperation in generating awareness about EPI diseases by helping UNICEF in arranging various programs in this regard. GP sponsored several programs involving children and parents with UNICEF like seminars, art competitions etc.

Awareness about Asthma Collaborated with Asthma Association of Bangladesh GrameenPhone has arranged rallies and seminars to create awareness about prevention & treatment of Asthma.

Awareness about Health & Hygiene:

GrameenPhone HSE team has worked extensively to create awareness about personal & community health & hygiene. GP has conducted seminars, rallies, in field and in house training in this regard in its Head office, regional offices and other organizations like EC & Nordic Club. First aid, safety in working place, clean environment etc topics is generally discussed in these awareness programs.

Blood Donation Program:

One of prominent social contribution of GP is in the field of Voluntary blood donation. Grameen Phone has sponsored and directly participated in various voluntary Blood Donation Programs around the country with voluntary blood donation organizations like Shandhani and Red Crescent Society.

Each year GP arranges a yearly HSE (Health, Safety & Environment) week. One of the regular programs of HSE week is blood donation camp in GP Head office & regional offices. Moreover round the year GP helps in arranging voluntary Blood Donation camps and works through seminars and camps to produce awareness between mass people about blood donation.

GrameenPhone maintains a database containing the information about blood groups of all the employees. When any employee or his family or friend needs blood, he can contact HSE personnel and get contacted with the persons having the required blood group.

Furthermore in February 2003 GrameenPhone has launched the new “Push-Pull” value-added service. “Push-Pull” service provides access to various information. If a subscriber sends a Text Message (SMS) to a specific number writing a key word in the message, then he/she will get the requested information instantly. For example, if a subscriber

writes Blood in his text message and send it to 2000, instantly he/she will get the names and telephone numbers of major Blood Bank services. if a subscriber writes TAXI in his text message and send it to 2000, instantly he/she will get the names and telephone numbers of major Taxicab services.

Plantation Program:

GrameenPhone has under taken plantation program in its office premises in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi & Khulna City as a part of their social awareness & responsibility. GP has also planted plants in the road side in areas like Gulshan, Baridhara etc.

GrameenPhone Products

The products of Grameen Phone can be characterized as:

1. Post Paid.

2. Pre-Paid.

Grameen Phone’s post paid products are :

1 GP-Regular

2 GP-GP National

3 Any Time 300

4 Any Time 500

Grameen Phone’s Pre Paid Packages:

1 Easy Pre-paid

2 Easy Gold

3 Djuice

Post Paid

GP-Regular

GP Regular connects to BTTB local, BTTB-NWD (Nationwide Dialing), ISD (International Standard Dialing), all Grameen Phone mobiles, other mobiles and receives calls from the same. Recently all GP Regular phones have been given the mobility facility that enables a GP Regular mobile holder to receive and send calls from anywhere in the country (under GP coverage). This product has ‘Friends & Family’ offer for 3 GP numbers.

Tariffs and Charges

  • All tariffs are subject to change without assigning any reason
  • 15% VAT applicable to all Airtime charges, monthly fees & BTTB charges.
  • 30 sec pulse in the 1st min
  • 15 sec pulse after 1st min
  • During Friday, 24 hours Off-Peak rate applicable
  • For ISD & NWD calls: BTTB’s Peak (8am – 10pm) & Off-peak (10pm – 8am) rate will be applicable for BTTB charge.

GP-GP National

GP-GP National is another addition of post-paid products of GrameenPhone. This phone can connect all mobiles within the home zone and all GP mobiles throughout GP’s coverage area. It has National Roaming facility and a flat rate airtime charge of Tk. 4 (+Tax) per minute for all calls to anywhere within GP’s coverage. This product has ‘Friends & Family’ offer for 3 GP numbers.

(24 Hrs.)GP-GPGP-OthersPeak

8am-11pmOff-Peak

11pm-8amPeak

8am-11pmOff-Peak

11pm-8amTk. 150Tk. 4/min.Tk. 3/min.Tk. 6/min.Tk. 5/min.FreeTk. 1.5/min to 3 GP nos.

  • 30 sec pulse in the 1st min
  • 15 sec pulse after 1st min
  • During Friday, 24 hours Off-Peak rate applicable

Any Time 300

Any Time 300 is same as GP National connections which can connect all mobiles within the home zone and all GP mobiles throughout GP’s coverage area. The main difference is that Any Time 300 has a bundle fee of TK. 1000/= for which the subscriber will get

300 min talk time free for GP-GP outgoing calls and there is no monthly access fee like TK. 250/= for GP National. It has National

Roaming facility and a flat rate airtime charge of Tk. 4 (+Tax) per minute for all calls to anywhere within GP’s coverage after the first 300 min. This product has no ‘Friends & Family’ offer.

Monthly

Bundle

FeeOutgoingIncomingWithin 1st 300 mins.After 1st 300 mins.Peak

8am – 11pmOff-Peak

11pm – 8amPeak

8am – 11pmOff-Peak

11pm – 8amTk. 1000Tk. 0/min.Tk. 0/min.Tk. 4/min.Tk. 3/min.Free

  • 30 sec pulse in the 1st min
  • 15 sec pulse after 1st min
  • During Friday, 24 hours Off-Peak rate applicable (after 1st free 300 mins.)

Any Time 500

Any Time 500 is same as GP Regular connections which connects to BTTB local, BTTB-NWD (Nationwide Dialing), ISD (International Standard Dialing), all Grameen Phone mobiles, other mobiles and receives calls from the same. The main difference is that Any Time

450 has a bundle fee of TK. 1300/= for which the subscriber will get 450 min talk time free for GP-GP outgoing call. This product don’t have ‘Friends & Family’ offer. It’s the only package which offer 1 sec pulse from the first minute.

Tariff of Any time 500

  • 1 sec pulse in the 1st min
  • During Friday, 24 hours Off-Peak rate applicable (after 1st free 500 mins.)

pre Paid

EASY Pre-Paid

Introduction of Grameen Phone’s EASY pre-Paid Service is another development of mobile telephony in Bangladesh. EASY has National Roaming facility and a flat airtime charge of Tk. 6 per minute. There is no incoming charge. This service helps the subscriber to control costs. It frees the subscriber from the hassles of paying bills, security deposits and line rents. But it contains nearly all services available in other GP products. Subscribers can subscribe the service from all GP

authorized points of sale. To start with, one has to buy the EASY Starter Kit and a handset. The Starter kit contains a pre-activated SIM card and a Green EASY card. The Starter kit costs Tk. 1,675, the Green EASY card worth of Tk. 300 is provided free.

Outgoing Incoming My EASY

(24 Hrs.)My Time

6am-9am

or

1pm-4pmPeak

6am-12amEasy Hour

12am – 6am1st & 2nd min.3rd min. onwardsTk. 3/min.FreeTk. 3/min.

to 1 GP no.Tk. 3/min.

to any GP no.Tk. 6/min.Tk. 4/min.

  • 30 sec pulse in the 1st min/20 sec pulse after 1st min.

Easy Pre-Paid while it connects to BTTB local, BTTB-NWD (Nationwide Dialing), ISD (International Standard Dialing), all Grameen Phone mobiles, other mobiles and receives calls from the same. Easy Gold has a flat airtime charge of Tk. 6 per minute and 2 incoming from T&T. There are no incoming charges from mobile.

 

Outgoing Incoming My EASY

(24 Hrs.)My Time

6am-9am

or

1pm-4pmMobile to MobileMobile toFrom MobileFrom BTTBBTTB Local/ISDBTTB NWDPeak 6am-12amEasy Hour 12am-6amPeak 8am-12amEasy Hour 12am-6amPeak 8am-12amEasy Hour 12am-6am1st & 2nd min.3rd min. onwardsTk. 3/min.1st & 2nd min.3rd min. onwardsTk. 3/min. + BTTB charge1st & 2nd min.3rd min. onwardsTk. (Flat)FreeTk. 2/min. from 1st min. onwardsTk. 3/min. to 1 GP no.Tk. 3/min. to any GP no.Tk. 6 /min.Tk. 4 /min.Tk. 6/min. + BTTB chargeTk. 4/min. + BTTB chargeTk. 6/min. + BTTB chargeTk. 4/min. + BTTB charge

  • 30 sec pulse in the 1st min
  • 20 sec pulse after 1st min. (for mobile to mobile)
  • For BTTB outgoing (ISD) the pulse is 30 sec after the 1st minute. For NWD calls pulse is 60 sec.after 1st min.
  • For ISD calls: BTTB’s Peak (8am – 10pm) /Off-peak (10pm – 8am) rate will be applicable for BTTB charge.

djuice

After Grameen Phone’s eight years successful operation with tremendous business growth and development, the company has come with its sub brand djuice with remarkable advertisement camping. The company launched djuice in last Pohela Boishak (14th April, 2005). Djuice targeted young generation who craving to communicate and to interact people. Djuice is committed to meet young generation need of communication with lucrative demanding features.

While focusing it target group djuice has included comparatively low charged SMS, SMS chat, music and movie top list etc. Djuice claim that it is more than a mobile phone service. Djuice by its entire means tried to grab the target groups’ attention with its creative advertisements, products features and brand image. At present it’s the only mobile operators’ sub brand, which is trying to create its own image inside subscribers mind. With 20 sec pulse throughout djuice offers improved affordability

1. Peak hour tariff (calls to any mobile)

Calls to any mobile during Peak hours only Tk 1.66 /pulse

2. Off peak hour tariff (calls to any mobile)

Calls to any mobile during Off-Peak hours only Tk 0.66 /pulse.

PEOPLE REMAIN CONNECTED OVER GRAMEEN PHONE

UNPRECEDENTED CUSTOMER CARE

BUSY EMPLOYEES AT DJUICE WORKSITE

DJUICE SALES CORNER AND SPONSORED CONCERT

Features

Tariff & Pulse

Tk 0.80/pulse

With 20 sec pulse throughout djuice offers improved affordability

  • Call any djuice number during Peak hours only @ Tk 0.80/pulse
  • Call any mobile during Peak hours only @ Tk 1.55 /pulse
  • Call any mobile during Off-Peak hours only @ Tk 0.66 /pulse.

Peak hours – 6 am to 12 am, Off-peak hours – 12 am to 6 am

SMS only @ Tk.1

  • djuice to djuice or djuice to GP @ Tk 1/SMS
  • Push Pull content- Tk 1.5/SMS
  • Premium Content- Ringtone and Logo @ Tk 10
  • Aktel, CityCell & Banglalink @ Tk 1.5/SMS

Also enjoy first 50 SMS to any djuice or GP number absolutely free.

  • All tariffs are subject to change without assigning any reason
  • 15% VAT applicable to all charges
Extra Talk

Tk.50 free talktime

Tk. 50 talk time is included with every djuice connection.

Dial 555 from your mobile and disconnect the call after a few seconds to get extra BDT 50 talk time. This extra talk time will remain valid for 15 days.

Checking my balance

Dial *566# and in reply you will have confirmation of your account balance

Extra SMS

 

1st 50 SMS free

If SMS is a lifeline for you, it is now easy on your wallet with the first 50 SMS to any djuice and GP number absolutely free.

With djuice SMS you can continue messaging at a surprisingly affordable rate.

BIG SIM

djuice strives to offer you a bigger and better experience.

Enhanced Phonebook:

Freedom to store up-to 200 friends’ numbers through this feature.

Create New: You can enter a new name in the phone book. Against each name, you can also store 03 phone numbers.

Browse:You can browse through the list in the phone book to find the intended person.

Update: You can change any entry in the Phonebook

Name: You can change or update the entry name.

Mobile Num.: You can save or change the mobile no.

Office Num: You can save and change the office phone no.

Home Num.: You can save and change the home phone no.

Delete: You can delete an entry in the Phone Book

Find: You can find any entry in the phone book. For this, you have to enter the intended person’s name and press “OK”.

Messages (max 40)

With this feature, you can store a maximum no. of 40 messages.

Services

Balance Transfer

Any amount between Tk. 50 and Tk. 200 from can be transferred to friend’s mobile

  • Regular SMS charge for sender and tk.2 for receiver is applicable for each transfer.
  • Receiver’s temporarily deactivated connection can be activated with this transfer.
  • Validity of receiver’s account for any transfer will be minimum 3 days. Subscriber with more than 3 day validity will enjoy the higher validity period.
  • Dial *566# to know balance and *577# to know validity for free of charge.
  • All Easy, Easy Gold and djuice subscribers will enjoy this facility.
  • SMS to 1000 for any assistance

Call management services

Call Conferencing

With call conferencing, conversation can be done within nine other people, simultaneously. The participants can be living miles apart, they may have different types of phones, but call conferencing will bring them together.

Establishing a conference call:

1. Making a call.

2. While the first call is on the line, dialing second number.

3. After connecting to the second number ,both numbers can be joined together in a conference call. For doing so, 3 has to be and press the send/call button.

4. To add additional numbers the same procedure can be followed.

5. To add incoming callers to an ongoing conference, first the call has to be received and then above mentioned process has to be continued.

CALL BARRING

It can be choose to bar all incoming calls, all outgoing calls, or all international calls. Using this feature, cell phone can be from unwanted usage. The default call barring password is 0000. Call barring can be activated from the handset or short codes:

Bar all outgoing calls * 33 * PWD #
Deactivate barring of all outgoing calls # 33 * PWD #
Bar all incoming calls * 35 * PWD #
Deactivate barring of all incoming calls # 35 * PWD #
Bar all outgoing international calls * 331 * PWD #
Deactivate barring of all outgoing international calls # 331 * PWD #
Change barring password * * 03 * 330 * OPWD * NPWD * RPWD # Send

OPWD = old password NPWD = new password RPWD = Repeat new password

For changing the default password 0000 to 5678, the short code will be: * * 03 * 330 * 0000 * 5678 * 5678 #

After typing any code, somebody will have to press the Send/Call button of your handset.

CALL FORWARDING

Allows to forward incoming calls to any number* when the mobile is off, unreachable or when somebody simply don’t want to be disturbed. Call forwarding to voice mail is also allowed.

Call forwarding can be enabled from the handset, or by using following short codes:

Forward Case To Activate To Deactivate
Forward when Not Reachable * * 62 * phone number # # # 62 # send
Forward when phone is Busy * * 67 * phone number # # # 67 # send
Forward when there is No Reply * * 61 * phone number # # # 61 # send
Forward All Calls * * 21 * phone number # # # 21 # send
*For checking call forwarding status * # Code #
To Cancel All sorts of call forwarding # # 002 #

*While checking forwarding status, the word “Code” needs to be substituted with any of the following numbers:

  • 62 = Forward when not reachable
  • 67 = Forward when phone is busy
  • 61 = Forward when there is no reply
  • 21 = Forward all calls

After typing any code, somebody will have to press the Send/Call button of your handset.

CALL WAITING

Somebody can keep maximum three callers on hold while making another call. He/she will hear a special alert if someone’s calling while you’re already on the line with someone else.

The Send button may vary from handset to handset.

Call waiting can be activated from your handset, or you can use the following short codes:

To activate call waiting *43#
To deactivate call waiting #43#
To check status *#43#

After typing any code, you will have to press the Send/Call button of your handset.

EDGE

GrameenPhone Ltd. is introducing EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), an advanced high-speed mobile Internet and data service for the first time in Bangladesh.

EDGE vs. GPRS

  • EDGE is the next generation mobile technology
  • It is up to 8 times faster than an ordinary GPRS network
  • Because of its increased network capacity and speed, you can download contents (video clips, pictures) and communicate much faster

Benefits of EDGE

  • Allows advanced mobile services such as: downloading of video and music clips; full multi-media messaging (pictures, sounds, video clips, etc.)
  • Browse contents more easily on your mobile phone
  • High-Speed mobile Internet access and e-mail on the move
  • Get access anytime, anywhere with our “always on” connection—get a better surfing experience

What services are being offered now?

During our soft launch period we are offering the following services:

  • Internet surfing (yahoo, google, etc.) and e-mail
  • Send and receive MMS (pictures, sounds, video clips, text)
  • Download animations, video and audio clips, richer ring tones, color logos

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)

MMS is a new, exciting way of sending messages. With MMS, GP subscribers can customize their message with a variety of fun stuff like pictures, sounds, audio and video clips (up to 100 kb), animations, and of course, text. They can also exchange

photographs. If the handset supports it, they can also send video clips. If a camera phone is not available, don’t worry. We have loads of pictures, animations, and clips that can be downloaded.

What EDGE is necessary?

A GPRS or EDGE and MMS enabled handset will be needed to send/receive MMS, connect to the internet, and download contents (video and audio clips, colour logos, animations, etc.).

Coverage Area

The GP EDGE coverage is currently in and around Dhaka and Chittagong cities. However, this service will be offered all over Bangladesh very soon.

With the introduction of EDGE, the ICT sector of Bangladesh will step into a new era and the mobile phone will become the ultimate tool to bridge the digital divide, providing people access to the Internet from anywhere within the coverage area of Grameen Phone.

In Bangladesh where less than one percent of the population has access to the Internet, GP’s EDGE service will greatly help to increase the access to Internet. Grameen Phone has already brought telephony in the hands of the people and now Internet will also reach the rural population of our country through the EDGE technology.

GrameenPhone EDGE

GrameenPhone brings you EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), an advanced mobile technology which enables high-speed mobile Internet and data services. This is up to 8 Times Faster Than GPRS

Benefits of EDGE

With EDGE, somebody can . . .

  • Get Internet access any time, remain connected all the time wherever you are, and have a great Web surfing experience
  • Surf the Internet with super-fast speed from your handset
  • Browse contents more easily on your mobile phone
  • Send and receive e-mails through your mobile phone
  • Send and receive multimedia (pictures, sounds) messages
  • Download better quality content: high-quality ring tones, wallpapers, songs, movie clips, videos, animated logos, and themes that let you customize your handset in many ways.
  • Receive telephone calls even while browsing. Once the call ends, your data transfer will resume automatically.

Note: GPRS handset users will also be able to enjoy these services.

What somebody needs to use EDGE?

Somebody needs an EDGE/GPRS and MMS-enabled handset to send and receive MMS, connect to the Internet and download content. Your handset must also be configured to the Grameen Phone EDGE Network

What are the EDGE services?

Grameen Phone is offering the following services:

  • Web surfing (yahoo, google, etc.)
  • Send and receive MMS (pictures, sounds, video clips, text)
  • Download games, animations, wallpapers, video and audio clips, polyphonic tones, true tones, themes, color logos etc.

In addition, you can also use your handset as a dial-up modem. To use your handset as a modem, please visit www.grameenphone.com or www.djuice.com.bd for details.

Available Packages

Two types of packages are available. Package 1 (P1) is Pay-as-you-go. It is available for both Pre Paid and Post Paid subscribers. There are no monthly fees. There is a charge for browsing/downloading. In the case of content download, charge includes both price of content and charge for downloading.

Package 2 (P2) is only for GP Post Paid subscribers. Subscribers only have to pay a fixed monthly fee for unlimited browsing in a month. They will only have to pay for content download when those are downloaded.

How to subscribe?

Request via SMS

To subscribe to Package One (P1), please send SMS to 5000 writing “Edge P1”. You will be notified by an SMS how to configure your handset for GP EDGE service.

To subscribe to Package Two (P2)*, please send SMS to 5000 writing “Edge P2”. You will also be notified by an SMS how to configure your handset for GP EDGE service.

*Note: Package Two is only for post paid subscribers.

For SMS-based settings, you will have to send the following message “Service Name” followed by “Full Name of Handset” followed by “Model Number of Handset” to 8080. For example, if you would like to activate WAP Service in Nokia 3220, please send the following SMS to 8080 “WAP Nokia 3220”

SMS-based settings for EDGE*

  • WAP Settings:

? To obtain WAP settings through SMS, please send following SMS to 8080 – WAP <Handset Name> <Model Number>. Please save the reply SMS with PIN 1234, if required. For example, for Nokia 3220, write “WAP Nokia 3220”

  • MMS Settings: