Network Maintenance and Spare Part Management Of GrameenPhone Limited

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Network Maintenance & Spare Part Management Of GrameenPhone Limited

Chapter 1

Overview of Grameenphone

1.1. GrameenPhone in Bangladesh

Grameenphone widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 30 million subscribers (as of May2011), Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 55.8% shares of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom owns 34.2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held.Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh.^{<href=”#cite_note-grameenphone.com-3″>[4]} It also established the first 24-hour Call Center to support its subscribers. With the slogan Stay Close, stated goal of Grameenphone is to provide affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh

1.2. History

The idea of providing wider mobile phone access to banana areas was originally conceived by Iqbal Quadir, who is currently the founder and director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT. He was inspired by the Grameen Bank microcredit model and envisioned a business model where a cell phone can serve as a source of income. After leaving his job as an investment banker in the United States, Quadir traveled back to Bangladesh, after meeting and successfully raising money from New York based investor and philanthropist Joshua Mailman, and worked for three years gaining support from various organizations including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank and the Norwegian telephone company, Telenor. He was finally successful in forming a consortium with Telenor and Grameen Bank to establish Grameenphone. Quadir remained a shareholder of Grameenphone until 2004.

Grameenphone received a license for cellular phone operation in Bangladesh from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on November 28, 1996. Grameenphone started operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day in Bangladesh.

Grameenphone originally offered a mobile-to-mobile connectivity (widely known as GP-GP connection), which created a lot of enthusiasm among the users. It became the first operator to reach the million subscriber milestone as well as ten million subscriber milestone in Bangladesh.

1.3. Chronology

November 28, 1996: Grameenphone Ltd. received cellular license by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Bangladesh.

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

June 1998: Grameenphone started its services in Chittagong, the second largest city and the port city of Bangladesh. Cell to cell coverage between Dhaka-Chittagong was established.

1999: Grameenphone started its service in Khulna, the industrial city of Bangladesh. Also cell to cell coverage between Dhaka and Khulna brought a number of other districts under coverage.

2000: Grameenphone started its services in Rajshahi, the education city of Bangladesh. Service also started in Sylhet and Barisal and thus all six divisional headquarters got the cellular network coverage for the first time Bangladesh.

August 2003: Grameenphone’s subscribes base has become more than one million. Grameenphone became the first operator in the country to reach the million subscribers.

November 2005: Grameenphone registered more than 5 million subscribers.

November 5, 2006: Grameenphone crosses the 10 million subscriber mark after almost ten years of operation.

September 20, 2007: Grameenphone reaches 15 million subscribers mark.

June 2008: Grameenphone reaches 20 million subscribers landmark

1.4. Changing logo

On the November 16, 2006 GP formally changed its logo to match its parent company Telenor’s logo. According to GP the new logo symbolizes trust, reliability, quality and constant progress. The name Grameenphone was kept as part of the new identity because the name Grameenphone carries with it all of the heritage, success and values of the company’s past, added the then CEO of Grameenphone Erik Aas.

1.5. Network

According to Grameenphone, it has so far invested more than BDT 10,700 crore (USD 1.6 billion) to build the network infrastructure since 1997. It has invested over BDT 3,100 crore (USD 450 million) during the first three quarters of 2007 while BDT 2,100 crore (USD 310 million) was invested in 2006 alone.

Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 percent of the country’s population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network.

The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing access to dial-up quality speed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area. There are currently nearly 3 million EDGE/GPRS users in the Grameenphone network

1.6. Products offered:

Mobile Telephony:

Grameenphone was the first operator to introduce the pre-paid mobile phone service in Bangladesh in September 1999.

It offers the pre-paid subscription under the name

· Easy prepaid which is currently called “smile prepaid”.

· Besides smile, Grameenphone also offers a youth based mobile to mobile connectivity within Bangladesh named” djuice”’.

Grameenphone also offers postpaid mobile service.

· The name of its post paid serviceis xplore Postpaid

Under Post Paid Service there are two products

· GP-GP Regular

· GP-GP National

1.7. Organization of GP

GrameenPhone is the largest mobile phone company in Bangladesh. In the midst of lack of communication means, GrameenPhone has introduced an effective and user-friendly mobile phone network. It has put a positive impact on the lifestyle of the people of Bangladesh.

Ownership:

Telenor owns 51% of GP. It is the state-owned telecommunication company in Norway operating since 1885. It is amongst the oldest, most sophisticated, and diversified telecom companies in the world. The company has a long history of successful cooperation with other operators and governments in and out of Norway. Telenor’s home base, Norway, has the highest density of mobile phones in the world and one of the most competitive markets in the field. Telenor has been playing a pioneering role in the development of GSM, one the latest and most successful versions of cellular technologies. Grameen Telecom the second largest shareholder owning 35% of GP, has been established by Grameen Bank, which believes that a lack of communication facilities in the rural areas is one of the major obstacles to rapid economic development in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Grameen Telecom’s deep understanding of the people and culture of Bangladesh helps GP to build up convenient and cost-effective communication facilities in the rural areas, which in turn, create more jobs and open up business opportunities there. Marubeni Corporation is one of the largest general trading and investment companies in Japan. The company has a global business network that oversees a number of operations ranging from domestic export and import to offshore trade and retail marketing of finished products. Marubeni invests in manufacturing facilities and infrastructure projects, including in the telecommunications sector. The company owns 9.5% of GP. Gonofone Development Corp. which owns 4.5% of GP, is a telecommunications development company based in New York. In addition, three leading international financial institutions– the International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank and the Commonwealth Development Corporation — are also shareholders of GrameenPhone. The three organizations each hold three per cent of preferred shares of GrameenPhone.

1.7.1Brand of Grameenphone

A connection exists between every person regardless of the distance that separates. And each person is designed to seek out those connections, to stay in touch.

Grameenphone serves as that correlating string that connects thousands of people across the country, across the world. It makes the daunting physicality of distance and time trivial. And thus it brings people together, holding their dreams and hopes, joys and sorrows, helping them stay close.

This power to connect all, eliminating all differences, is the power of Grameenphone – the power to create magic for every common man, the magic of love, the magic of closeness.

1.8. Vision and Values

GrameenPhone’s Vision and Values define a common approach and are internal guidelines for all employees. They are GrameenPhone’s fundamental tools towards becoming truly customer focused. GrameenPhone’s vision is simple, “GrameenPhone exists to help customers get the full benefit of communications services in their daily lives. We’re here to help”. This vision crystallizes GrameenPhone’s customer focus as the cornerstone of everything they do.

? Make It Easy

? Keep Promises

? Be Inspiring

? Be Respectfu

1.9.Mission of GrameenPhone

Leading the industry and exceed customer expectations by providing the best wireless services, making life and business easier

1.10. Vission of GrameenPhone

We exist to help our customers get the full benefit of communications services in their daily lives. We want to make it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want it. We’re here to help

1.11. GrameenPhone Brand promise

Stay Close

1.12. Values for GrameenPhone

Make it Easy

They are practical. Everything they produce should be easy to understand and use. Because they never forget they are trying to make their customers’ lives easier.

Be inspiring

They are creative. They bring energy and imagination to their work. They want to be a partner in the development of the community. They are passionate about their business, customers and country.

Be Respectful

They acknowledge and respect the local culture. They are respectful and professional in regard to all their interactions, both internally and externally. They are open, helpful and friendly.

Keep Promises

Everything they set out to do should work. If it does not, they are there to put things right. They are about delivery, not over promising – actions not words.

They view there selves as a socially responsible employer and strive towards developing not only local but also global competencies. They nurture a positive, friendly, productive, and respectful work environment where they strive for fostering work-life balance. They reward performance and excellence through a competitive environment where goals encourage and drive. We have around 5,000 talented people working towards reaching greater heights. Their Leadership Expectations

• Integrity
• Operational Excellence
• Passion for Business
• Change & Constant Renewal
• Empowering People

Together the vision and values set a standard for all their work. They make Telenor stand out, and will increasingly do so in the years to come. To ensure that customers, competitors and industry analysts experience this difference – the Telenor way of doing things – all employees must take part. They must continuously strive to make the vision and values the foundation for how they meet their customers, how they do business and how they cooperate internally. By using the vision and values in everything they do, they build a gradually stronger Telenor Culture that will enable better experience sharing and cooperation across company borders. It means communicating more consistently to their customers, whilst at the same time maintaining their uncompromising focus on local edge and responsiveness in each market.

1.13. Corporate Governance in Grameenphone

In the fast-paced and versatile world of telecommunications, vibrant and dynamic Corporate Governance practices are essential ingredient to success. Grameenphone believes in continued nurturing and improvement of corporate governance. This in turn has led the Company to commit considerable resources and implement internationally accepted Corporate Standards in its day-to-day operations.

Being a public limited company, the Board of Directors of Grameenphone has a pivotal role to play in meeting stakeholders’ interests. The Board of Directors and the Management Team of Grameenphone are committed to maintaining effective Corporate Governance through a culture of accountability, transparency, well-understood policies and procedures. The Board of Directors and the Management Team also endeavour to maintain compliance of all laws of Bangladesh and all internally documented regulations, policies and procedures.

Grameenphone is a transparent company and maintains highest level of integrity and accountability practised on a global standard.

1.14. Board Organization & Structure

Board Committees

1.15. Sponsorship of GrameenPhone

Grameenphone engages in sponsorship to deliver its brand promise and to create mutual benefits for its partners. Grameenphone has been relentlessly supporting different organizations through sponsorships to preserve and glorify our national heritage and patronize the potential developing sectors of Bangladesh.

The basic drive of our sponsorship decision comes from patriotism and the understanding of societal development in different potential sectors. We believe that there is still a large scope to work together and stay close.

Sponsorship focus areas

? Sports

? Art-Culture

? Social Welfare

? National Days

? ICT Development Partner

Sponsorship Activities

• Partner of Bangladesh Cricket Board the National team
• Grameenphone- the proud partner of Sports, Art-culture, social welfare national days
• Cricket Academy
• Football
• Golf
• Tennis
• Weight Lifting
• National Art Exhibition
• Zainul-Quamrul International Children’s Painting Competition
• Rabindro Utshob
• National Poet’s Birth Anniversary
• Tree Plantation Movement
• Police Week
• Acid Survivors Welfare
• Anti Drug Movement
• Major events in Independence Day
• Victory Day
• International Mother Language Day
• Bengali New Year
• Inspiring to strengthen the nationalism

1.16. Partners of GrameenPhone

Through the past few years, GrameenPhone has been relentlessly supporting different organizations through sponsorships to preserve and glorify our national heritage and patronize the potential developing sectors of Bangladesh. The basic drive of our sponsorship decision comes from patriotism and the understanding of societal development in different potential sectors. Though much has been done, we believe that there is still a large scope of work yet to be done.

1.17. MAJOR SHAREHODINGS

As of May31 2011

The shareholding structure comprises of mainly two sponsor Shareholders namely Telenor Mobile Communications AS (55.80%) and Grameen Telecom (34.20%). The rest 10.00% shareholding includes General Public & other Institutions.

Telenor Mobile Communications AS (TMC)

TMC, a company organized under the laws of the Kingdom of Norway, seeks to develop and invest in telecommunications solutions through direct and indirect ownership of companies and to enter into national and international alliances relating to telecommunications. It is a subsidiary of Telenor Mobile Holdings AS and an affiliate of Telenor. Telenor ASA is the leading Telecommunications company of Norway listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It owns 55.80% shares of Grameenphone Ltd.

In addition to Norway and Bangladesh, Telenor owns mobile telephony companies in Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan and India. Including its 39.6% ownership stake in VimpelCom, Telenor has more than 200 million mobile subscriptions worldwide as of December 31, 2010.

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

As part of the conversion of Grameenphone from a private limited to a public limited company, Telenor Mobile Communications AS transferred 10 shares each on May 31, 2007 to its three (3) affiliate organizations namely Nye Telenor Mobile Communications II AS, Norway; Telenor Asia Pte. Ltd., Singapore; and Nye Telenor Mobile Communications III AS, Norway.

Grameen Telecom (GTC)

Grameen Telecom, which owns 34.20% of the shares of Grameenphone, is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh, working in close collaboration with Grameen Bank, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 along with its founder Professor Muhammad Yunus. 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.

GTC’s mandate is to provide easy access to GSM cellular services in rural Bangladesh and creating new opportunities for income generation through self- employment by providing villagers, mostly the poor rural women, with access to modern information and communication-based technologies.

GTC is the authorized service provider of Nokia Care network, providing after sales services to the Nokia customers.

With the help of Grameen Bank, Grameen Telecom, with its field network, administers the Village Phone Program, through which Grameenphone provides its services to the fast growing rural customers. Grameen Telecom trains the operators, supplies them with handsets and handles all service-related issues.

GTC has been acclaimed for the innovative Village Phone Program. GTC and its chairman Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus have received several awards which include: First ITU World Information Society Award in 2005; Petersburg Prize for Use of the IT to Improve Poor People’s Lives” in 2004; GSM Association Award for “GSM in Community Service” in 2000.

As part of the conversion of Grameenphone from a private limited to a public limited company, Grameen Telecom transferred one share each on May 31, 2007 to its two affiliate organizations namely Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Shakti.

Top Twenty Shareholders as on May 31, 2011

Technology of Grameenphone

Telecommunications are an essential part of a country’s infrastructure. Grameen Phone’s Global System for mobile communication (GSM) technology is the most widely accepted digital system in the world, currently used by approximate 2bn in 216 countries. GSM brings the most advanced developments in cellular technology at a reasonable cost by spurring severe among manufacturers and driving down the cost of equipment. Thus, consumers get the best for the least. GSM is a living, growing technology with different level of adoptions, pattern of use and approaches to service provisions in different areas of the world.

The success of GSM is that its development was founded on the delivery of a specific user benefit – international roaming. The demands of international roaming had profound changes on GSM’s architecture and mandated an open future-proof standard that ensured interoperability, without stifling competition, and innovation among suppliers. This lowered barriers to entry, promoted compatibility between systems which, in turn, lowered development osts and set the stage for better choice and innovation. The unparalleled economies of scale and competition that resulted brought convenience and falling prices to manufacturers, network operators and consumers.

The adoption of a digital system offered improved mobility, spectrum efficiency, better quality transmission and new services over the first generation systems. The use of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) microprocessor technology and other low cost 32 IC architectures paved the way for more efficient and affordable pocket-sized mobile phones. This resulted in a profound change in users’ mobile communication style from vehicular-based to personal, opportunity-based communications. Although GSM is only one of the pieces in the cluster of current and future telecommunications networks, its ability to provide anytime, and almost anywhere, communications has resulted in tremendous economic and social consequences.

Services of Grameenphone:

Grameenphone considers its employees to be one of its most important assets. GP has an extensive employee benefit scheme in place including Gratuity, Provident Fund, Group Insurance, Family Health Insurance, Transportation Facility, Day Care Centre, Children’s Education Support, and Higher Education Support for employees, in-house medical support and other initiatives.

1.18.Organogram of GrameenPhone

Different divisions of GrameenPhone Ltd.

GrameenPhone places a high value on human resource development and the contributions made by its employees. They persevere to maintain a productive and harmonious working environment in the whole organization. GP always continues with its efforts to improve the efficiency of its employees and align them to the right positions with well-defined responsibilities. Because of the rapid expansions of GP’s networks and enormous growth of its subscriber base, the company has increased its workforce to 832 persons till the beginning of 2004. Grameen Phone has successfully hired some key senior managers who were recruited on the basis of their professional expertise and experience. In order to cape up with the dynamic nature of the company’s business, initiatives are always taken to restructure and reorganize the company’s existing set up. It always evolves standardized management systems and procedures across functional divisions, focusing in particular, on the effective integration and assimilation of all the organizational units.

The internal organization functions of Grameen Phone Ltd. are done by seven functional divisions and five departments’ .The divisions are:

1) Finance Division

2) Sales and Marketing Division

3) Customer Relations Division

4) Information Technology Division

5) Human Resources Division

6) Corporate Affairs Division

7) Technical Division

The departments are –

1) Procurement Department

2) Fiber Optic Department

3) Revenue Assurance Department

4) Information Department

5) Internal Audit Department

Among them, the seven divisions are headed by their respective Directors. The procurement department is headed by the Assistant General Manager. The seven Directors and the AGM Procurement have to report directly to the Managing Director. The heads of the other four departments directly report to the Managing Director too.

Finance Division

Headed by the Chief Financial Officer, Md. Arif Al Islam,

this division will include the following units:

v Financial Planning;

v Treasury,

v Investment Control;

v Sarbanes-Oxley Act Compliance;

v Supply Chain Management and Capital Market (IPO Project),

The Finance Division holds 85 employees in its various departments. The Division encompasses all financial activities – both internal and external. The purpose of each of the 12 units is given as follows.

· Financial Statement Analysis

· Business Plan

· Strategic Plan

· Budgeting

· Product Profitability Analysis

· Statistical Analysis-Financial

· Revenue Analysis

· Telenor Quarterly Review

· Adhoc reporting to Board, Telenor Management and Other related parties

· Presentation- Company, BM, OCM and Related Parties.

Investment Controller:

· Review new investment proposal as project or programs

· Prepare Business case

· Advice management and Investment committee

· Re-rank the investment options

Finance Control Unit:

· Implementation of IFRS in preparing the financial statements

· Maintain and Develop internal control structure aiming at the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 (Section 404)

· Check compliance of Financial and Procurement Policies

· Compliance with Tax related issues

· Review policies and procedure in place and pass suggestion for continuous improvement

Strategy and Training:

· Develop and follow-up strategy of Finance Division

· Coordinate recruitments in Finance Division

· Coordinate training for Finance Division employees

· Prepare Monthly Finance News Letters

· Follow-up IVC of Finance Division

Payroll and Taxation:

· Payroll Management

· Corporate Tax Management

· VAT Management

· Board of Investment (BOI), Bangladesh Bank and Others Regulator affairs

Capital Market:

· Coordinate overall Financing Function

· Ensure and Monitor Compliance to the Financing agreement

· Responsible to Lender, Telenor and Bangladesh Bank related to financing issues

· Liaison with Foreign Lenders, Sponsors, Bankers and Regulators

· Responsible for Capital Market Issues

· Arrangements of Short Term Financing from local banks.

Reporting & Accounting & System Administration:

· Financial Reporting to Management, Telenor, OCM and Board

· Financial & Management Accounting- Actual & Budget

· Budgeting (Preparation/Implementation/Monitoring)

· Systems Administration of Accounting Systems (Scala)

Assets and Insurance:

· Asset Addition

· Capitalization WIP

· Land and Land Advance

· Insurance – Fire and Business Interruption

· Support to Scala, ADS and Investment Allowance

International Settlement & Insurance:

· Letter of Credit for all Imports

· Leasing, Insurance & Contracts

· International Roaming and Receivables, Payables, Invoicing

· All Foreign Payment and employee foreign travel and training payments and advances

Treasury Department:

· Fund management

· Cash Rolling Forecast

· Local payments

· Bank reconciliations

· Employee Gratuity and Provident Fund

Revenue Accounting:

· Collection of Prepaid, Post-paid and International Roaming bill from subscribers

· Recognition of Prepaid, Post paid Revenue and Revenue from all sub leases

· Reconciliation of all collections

· Handset payment management

· Banking Arrangement for Collection

· Costing of inventories

· Invoicing to subleases and collection

Participation in Revenue Assurance Activities

Customer Relations Division (CRD):

Customer Relations Division is the bridge between the customers and the company. People here are always serving the clients. A total of 210 people in this division providing customer service are strengthening the relationship of GP with its valued customers. This division can be subdivided into three major parts-call center, billing department and trainee development department.

Call center responds to customers’ query. 150 to 190 people working in shifting basis in call center. It provides 24 hours service to the customers through telephones. They receive queries and complaints related to GP service and network, solve them, provide different types of information to the clients’ etc.

Billing department is mainly responsible for billing customers for the service and collecting the revenue from them. This department works with the help of its eight units. The units are distribution unit, general banking unit, bank reconciliation unit, bank communication unit, collection unit, credit recovery unit, fraud management unit and revenue assurance unit.

Trainee development department arranges all sorts of in-house and overseas training programs for the employees. Experts from within the GP family conduct in-house training programs. These programs include orientation for new employees, team-building workshops, customized training for the senior managers on management style, motivation, and project management and handling difficult situations. Many GP employees are sent to foreign countries for overseas training, workshops and seminars. All the organization and formalities concerning these programs are done through this department.

Marketing Division:

Headed by the Director of Marketing, Rubaba Dowla,

it will include the following units

· Brands;

· Market Communication;

· RACE;

· Commercial Development;

· New Initiatives and New Business Development.

The New Business Development unit of previous New Business Division has been placed in Marketing.

Sales Division:

Headed by the Director of Sales, Laszlo Barta, it will include the following units:

· Direct Sales;

· Distribution;

· Trade Marketing;

· Regions;

· GPC Concept;

· Sales Development;

Customer Service Division:

Headed by the Director of Customer Service, Arnfinn Groven, it will include the following units:

• Inbound Call Center;
• Outbound Call Center
• Channel Support;
• Direct Communication
• Knowledge
• Development. Handset Department.

Networks Division:

The Technical Division has been renamed as Networks Division. Headed by the CTO, Md. Shafiqul Islam,

it will include the following units:

• Planning;
• Implementation;
• Network Operations;
• Network Quality & Performance;
• Network Advancement;
• FON;
• Business Control.

The entire Fiber Optic Network (FON) Department has been placed under the Networks Division.

Business Support (Commercial) and Financial Management: led by Director Raihan Shamsi , will include:

· Accounting;

· Asset Management;

· Revenue Accounting;

· Reporting;

· Tax & Regulatory;

· Financial Control.

The Business Support unit of Commercial Division has been placed under the Finance Division.

Information Technology Division:

Headed by the Chief Information Officer, Frode Stoldal,

it will include the following units:

• Operations Management;
• Billing & Customer Systems Management;
• Enterprise Systems Management;
• Project Portfolio Management;
• Systems and Network Security;
• Strategy,
• Architecture
• Governance and Business Control.

Corporate Affairs Division:

Headed by the Director, Khalid Hasan, this Division will include the following units:

• Regulatory;
• Government Relations;
• Legal and Compliance;
• Interconnection;
• Research & Planning;
• Business Control.

The Legal & Compliance unit has been placed under the Corporate Affairs Division.

Public Relations Division:

Headed by the Director, Syed Yamin Bakht,

it will include the following units:

Information and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The CSR Department has been placed under the Public Relations Division.

Human Resources Division:

Headed by the Director, Emad Ul Ameen, it will include the following units

· HR Operations;

· Resourcing & Employer Branding;

· HR Development;

· Health Safety & Environment;

· Expatriate & Travel Support;

· Administration.

The Administration Department has been placed under the HR Division.

Company Secretary:

This department will be headed by Raihan Shamsi in addition to his role as Director, Financial Management.

Internal Audit Department:

This department will be headed by Farhad F. Ahmad.

Special Initiatives:

This unit will include the Corporate Headquarter (CHQ) Project and will be headed by Petter Russ; the Cost Efficiency Project with an objective to identify and mange all cost efficiency initiatives, will be headed by Stein Naevdal; the Climate Strategy initiative, to look into ways within the company for reducing the negative impacts on the environment, will be headed by N.K.A. Mobin; and the Financial Services/Mobile Money unit will be headed by Delwar Hossain Azad. The Special Initiatives unit will evolve over time and projects/initiatives will be added and/or terminated.

Senior Assistant to CEO:

It will be a mid-level development role for talents within the organization with potential to grow to senior level positions. An internal job posting will be made soon to facilitate the selection of the right candidate.

Click on the following link to see the new Management structure (which is final) and the interim detailed divisional structure

Subscribers’ Facilities

GrameenPhone subscribers enjoy the following GSM features without bearing any additional costs:

Caller ID: Display of the phone number of an incoming call in your handset before the call is answered

Call Waiting: While talking to the first caller, you will hear a special tone informing you about the second call on the line. At that moment you can put the first caller on hold and talk to the second caller.

Call Conference: Receiving calls from multiple callers can be supplemented by joining these multiple callers so as to enable them to talk to each other. You will be able to communicate with a group consisting of maximum five callers.

Call Divert: Call Divert lets you redirect or re-route your call to another GrameenPhone mobile or any other fixed (if you have BTTB connectivity) or mobile phone.

Call Barring: Enables you to restrict certain types of calls to be made from your mobile. This feature is especially important for security purposes.

Value Added Services

The following additional services are available upon request:

Voice Mail Service (VMS)

* VMS is a unique answering machine.

* It provides you with a personal electronic mail box in our voice mail center.

* It records your personalized greetings as well as stores your incoming voice messages.

* It records incoming voice messages if you are:

= Outside GP’s coverage area or

= Busy or

= Simply switched off your mobile.

* It provides 24-hour automatic secretarial service

* Makes you available to your calling party anytime

Short Message Service (SMS)

* SMS in your mobile acts like an advanced pager.

* You can send and receive text messages of up to 160 characters, directly from one GP mobile to another GP mobile.

Fax and Data Service (currently available only to corporate clients):

* You can use your mobile phone attached to a computer to send faxes or transfer data.

* No need to have connection with a fixed line.

* You can use this service even when you are on the move within GP’s coverage area.

Pre-Paid Service

Introduction of GrameenPhone’s new 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.

EASY features:

* No Monthly Bills

* Flat rate of 6 Taka per minute

* No Security Deposits

* No Monthly Access Fees

* No Waiting for Activation

* Instant Connection

* EASY Voice Mail Service, free of monthly rents

* EASY Cards of Four Different Values and Colors

* National Roaming Facility

* GSM Features like Caller ID and Call Divert to Voice Mail Service

Other Avtivites of Grameenphone

Village phone

With the help of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom operates the national Village Phone programme, alongside its own parent Grameen Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), acting as the sole provider of telecommunications services to a number of rural areas. Most Village Phone participants are women living in remote areas. Village Phone works as an owner-operated GSM payphone whereby a borrower takes a BDT 12,000 (USD 200) loan from Grameen Bank to subscribe to GP (Grameenphone) and is then trained on how to operate it and how to charge others to use it at a profit. As in September 2006, there are more than 255,000 Village Phones in operation in 55,000 villages around Bangladesh. This program has been replicated also in some other countries including in Uganda and Rwanda in Africa.

Community Information Centers

Community Information Center (CIC) or GPCIC is aimed at providing internet access and other communications services to rural areas. In February 2006, 26 CICs were established across the country as a pilot project. In this project, Grameenphone provides GSM/EDGE/GPRS infrastructure and technical support and other partners Grameen Telecom Corporation and Society for Economic and Basic Advancement (SEBA), are involved in selecting and training entrepreneurs to run the village centers. The computers in these centers in the pilot project are used by an average of 30 people a day, who pay a small fee to access email or Web pages. These CICs are used for a wide variety of business and personal purposes, from accessing health and agricultural information to using government services to video conferencing with relatives overseas. Grameenphone also trains the entrepreneurs so that they can give people advice on how to set up an e-mail account and best make use of the Internet.

CIC project is giving up to 20 million people the chance to use the Internet and e-mail for the first time. Following a successful pilot project, Grameenphone is going to set up approximately 560 centers in communities throughout Bangladesh by the end of 2006. The centers will be located in each Upazila (sub-district) of Bangladesh. As a result, up to 15 villages containing up to 40,000 people will be within reach of each CIC. In this information center, there will be personal computers connected to Grameenphone’s existing GSM mobile network, which has been upgraded with EDGE technology to offer data transfer speeds of up to 16 kilobytes per second

Grameenphone Centers

A grameenphone center (GPC) serves as a “one stop solution” for customers, with all telecommunications products and services, under a single roof. A grameenphone center also sells phones from vendors like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sagem and Benq. EDGE/GPRS modems and accessories such chargers and headphones are also sold at GPCs.

As of September, 2007, there are 76 GPCs and they are strategically located at all major locations of the country is operated by Grameenphone. As of late most of the newly opened gpc’s are franchised. Most of these franchised outlets are in non-metropolitan areas.

The GPCs also provide the flexiload service without charging extra for small denominations unlike many retailers in the country. Thus making the gpc’s and ideal place for many for such a service.Every once a while, the GPCs tie up with handset manufactures and start a nationwide marketing scheme by selling the specific vendors products at a price lower than the market’s or in bundle with a grameenphone connection loaded with free minutes.

Awards

? Grameenphone received the GSM in the Community Award at the global GSM Congress held in Cannes, France in February 2000 for its Village Phone initiative.

? In 2002, Grameenphone was adjudged the Best Joint Venture Enterprise of the Year at the Bangladesh Business Awards.

? Grameenphone was presented with the GSM Association’s Global Mobile Award for ‘Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development’ under Bridging the digital divide category at the 3GSM World Congress held in Singapore, in October 2006, for its Community Information Center (CIC) project.

? in the next year, 2007, Grameenphone was again presented with the same award for its `HealthLine Service’ at the 3GSM World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, in February

Chapter 2

GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATION

2.1. Overview of GSM:

GSM- Global System for Mobile communication- was established in order to formulate the specification for this pan- European mobile cellular system.

During 1982-1985 there were discussions of whether to build an analog or digital system but in 1985 it was decided to specify a digital system. The next step was to choose between a narrow band and a broadband solution. In 1986 there was a field test in Paris where different companies with different solutions, competed. In May 1987 the narrowband TDMA solution was chosen. At the same time, the first 13 countries signed the MoU committing them to fulfill the specifications and promised to have a GSM system running by July 1, 1991, thus opening a very large potential market.

The specifications have later been extended to include an air interface also for the 1800 MHz frequency range, DCS 1800 Digital Communication System.

2.2. Frequency Allocation:

The following frequency bands are allocated to the system:

The digital GSM system uses TDMA- time division multiple access- where each carrier is divided into eight time slots. The mobile station sends and receives in the same time slot. This means that eight simultaneous conversations can take place on the same carrier.

2.3. GSM structure:

The GSM network is divided into two systems. Each of these systems are comprised of a