Internet in Bangladesh

[nakedzero]

Kon news a porlam eta naki Mid July te thik hobe, BDnews24 othoba Banglanews24 a porechilam. Crap! Amar ta thik e kaj kortese btw.

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by riankhan
3G will be an ancient history soon. Whole world is setting up 4G now. And here we are, trying make decisions on how to set up 3G ?!!#$?

A big LOL

Not quite, 3G is still holding strong and will be for a WHILE. The global presence of 4G is a while away 2-5 years at a minimum for developed countries, and 10+ for developing countries. Just look at Europe's progress. US is much more advanced in that respect. Going to HSPA on the 3g evolution path can still bring about half the spectral efficiency of LTE. And that is without infrastructure change, no new spectrum procurement, and only a card swap in the Node-Bs and software upgrade at the core servers with a redimensioning of the links for increased traffic. WSPs will not be willing to overhaul an entire nework and get new spectrum to deploy 4G.

3G to HSPA will be in same spectrum, and spectrum is VERY Expensive. So, 3G will live a long time. Most operators have not yielded all that it can from 3G .. as yet. CapEx Investments and the need for new spectrum will hold back 4G for a while, and to be able to get half the 4G speeds without new spectrum and infrastructure is a big business driving force for staying with 3G. Heck, I would. That would be the business sensible thing to do.

GSM->GPRS->EDGE->WCDMA->HSDPA->HSUPA->HSPA is a homogeneous evolution.
To go to 4G is a totally disjoint path. It is disruptive. 4G is based on OFDM, while 3G was based on CDMA (Even though GSM was a TDMA structure, the core evolution of GSM-GPRS-EDGE-WCDMA was graceful, and retained the architecture and added incremental changes to the core). The infrastructure in the 2G to 3G evolution was E1 termination, elements were RNC, SGSN, GGSN, HSS - all of them stayed the same.
In 4G the termination needs to be IP at Base Station, the core is all IP, circuit voice is NOT supported - ever! The core is P-Gateway, S-Gateway, MME. The eNodeB is a router and a base station and an RNC. 3G to 4G evolution is a non-evolution and actually a new breed where the 3G CapEx will all be dismantled once the entire subscriber base switches over to 4G for a particular operator. Until the last guy leaves, the operator will have to maintain to parallel paths, and assuming OpEx is 10% of cumulative YoY CapEx - that is an expensive proposition maintaining two parallel sets of technicians, retraining, two knowledge bases. The human factor is the most expensive to run any network, and introducing a disruptive change spikes your OpEX.

On another note, the Mobile Device is one of the major contributors/detractors for subscriber growth. the 3G volume is so high, that the WCDMA/GSM chip-sets are most likely at 1/10th the price of LTE chip-sets. Tom dick and harry foundries can make the 3G chips. For LTE there are a handful of vendors: Qualcomm, LG, Infenion. The economies of scale will take a while to kick in. Plus, the same chipset handles WCDA and GSM with GPS as well (Qcomm's SnapDragon). But to have the same chipset handle LTE and 3G will be an expensive task. Most likely they will be two parallel chips in the hand-set. That too is costly.

3G to 4G is not so simple. For 90% of the world's operators. Period.

Therefore, its not an "LoL' moment at all. Don't need to look at Bangladesh for that... take a look at Europe! They too will lag - they are lagging... its a business decision.

Having said all that, all these 3G-4G discussions will not help BC, because unless the long-haul link is fixed, and as long as the server for BC is off-shore, 3G or 4G for local access in BD will be moot as the bottle neck is the long-haul network.

PS: Had it not been for VzW's 4G, ATT would have stuck to 3G/HSPA. Competition changes the game. The technology may speak a different story that HSPA is half as good, and most people do not need more than that (except the video hogs) - but mantra sells, and VzW would have used 4G as mantra. Plus the Apple company changes the game - empowering users with greater resolution and bandwidth - crunching the WSPs network. In fact with the best plan from ATT's data plan, you can eat up your months supply of MBytes in two hours. There is basically a gap between business and technology in 4G. It is not perfect - unsettling and needs to be thought out. It is complex - NO LOL there.

[Zeeshan]

hehehe salam zed sayeed uncle! shorirta bhalo, apne to chokka mere puro stadium fatiye fellen dekhi dada!!

[zsayeed]

heh heh was having fun writing it. That could be worth a lot of money to someone. I have a gut feeling that 4G would be a good green field network rather than a migration path for developing countries, at the present time.

[Zunaid]

Has anyne used the OLLO wireless modem dongle? Any personal experiences?

ollo.com.bd

The 512KB, 6GB for 30 days is priced at taka 1499. I'll only be in Dhaka for about 10 days so the 6GB should suffice and the 512KB would be way better than the Edge network I find myself with Grameen on my phone.



They seem to have reasonable coverage in Dhaka in the areas I intend to be. Don't need countrywide
coverage.

The other alternative is for me to get the BanglaLion Wimax dongle - they have a 1Mbps offer. Prepad modem is at taka 1999 and then different rates for download amount and duration.

[F6_Turbo]

Ollo are the new kids on the block(remember them...oh the nightmares), so I actually don't know too much about them to help you out...but I can tell you BanglaLion is pretty good. 1mbps will give you a pretty stable download speed of 115-120kbps.

Obviously costs more than double up(tk1200 for 5GB, dongle is around tk.1500 I believe), but it's pocket change really.

[Isnaad]

I use Banglalion WiMax 2 MBPS unlimited internet for free.

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Isnaad
I use Banglalion WiMax 2 MBPS unlimited internet for free.

Your answer dies not help.

Rate? Dongle cost? I'll only be using it for 19 days but would prefer high bandwidth and ceiling.

I assume prepay? Or is it post-paid?

[Isnaad]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Your answer dies not help.

Rate? Dongle cost? I'll only be using it for 19 days but would prefer high bandwidth and ceiling.

I assume prepay? Or is it post-paid?

My response was directed towards the thread starter post.
...
Answers to your questions:
http://banglalionwimax.com/index.php...cts-a-services
...
What I meant is, mine is free of cost. The cost of the dongles that are bought from Chinese companies are generally $27.5 per piece. And Banglalion Wimax sells them for Tk 1999 if I'm not mistaken. As for unlimited internet, the prices depend on the speed of your connection. I am not sure but I think the price of 1 MBPS unlimited is Tk 2200 per month for BL WiMax.

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Has anyne used the OLLO wireless modem dongle? Any personal experiences?

ollo.com.bd

The 512KB, 6GB for 30 days is priced at taka 1499. I'll only be in Dhaka for about 10 days so the 6GB should suffice and the 512KB would be way better than the Edge network I find myself with Grameen on my phone.



They seem to have reasonable coverage in Dhaka in the areas I intend to be. Don't need countrywide
coverage.

The other alternative is for me to get the BanglaLion Wimax dongle - they have a 1Mbps offer. Prepad modem is at taka 1999 and then different rates for download amount and duration.

Look at zoom ultra, http://www.citycell.com/index.php?pageid=149 as well. This is what I use. It has been good when I used it last year.

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by zsayeed
Look at zoom ultra, http://www.citycell.com/index.php?pageid=149 as well. This is what I use. It has been good when I used it last year.

Oh, thanks. Great suggestion. Their prepaid only gives 300Kbps though.

[zsayeed]

there is a 512 package for prepaid, but that more likely 300 in practice my mom video chats with me with bearable quality.

[Sohel]

My regular job requires me to be online pretty much all the time. I use Qubee 2MBPS at home and office for BDT 5,700 per month, and UltraZoom 1MBPS with a pocket WiFi bubble for BDT 8,000 per month while on the road alone or with my team. I wasn't impacted by the severed cable at all for some reason.

Looking forward to getting 5 to 8MBPS soon

[Zunaid]

Thanks Sohel. I'm looking for high-speed prepaid plans with 'reasonable' bandwidth for a 10 day trip. I'll leave the dongle with my brother and top-up next trip.

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
My regular job requires me to be online pretty much all the time. I use Qubee 2MBPS at home and office for BDT 5,700 per month, and UltraZoom 1MBPS with a pocket WiFi bubble for BDT 8,000 per month while on the road alone or with my team. I wasn't impacted by the severed cable at all for some reason.

Looking forward to getting 5 to 8MBPS soon

Thanks for the heads up on the MyFi (bubble) I did not know that in BD. I will be there 1st week of July. So, great!

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Thanks Sohel. I'm looking for high-speed prepaid plans with 'reasonable' bandwidth for a 10 day trip. I'll leave the dongle with my brother and top-up next trip.

I recommend UltraZoom. A bit pricy, but the genuine 3G CDMA technology gives you steady performance pretty much everywhere. Qubee and BanglaLion widely vary their performance depending on exactly where you are, even in the same freaking room. I haven't heard anything either positive or negative about Ollo or Matrix yet, and that's not a good initial sign

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by zsayeed
Thanks for the heads up on the MyFi (bubble) I did not know that in BD. I will be there 1st week of July. So, great!

Call me once you get here. It'd be nice to have tea with you

PMing you my number.

[zsayeed]

Thanks Sohel Bhai. Have PMed you mine as well. I am curious, Sundarbans, you actually go/live there?

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by zsayeed
Thanks Sohel Bhai. Have PMed you mine as well. I am curious, Sundarbans, you actually go/live there?

I do go there and Kuakata quite a bit. Lived in remote and utterly rural Bagerhat and Barguna at the very edge of the forest for about 2 years. A life changing experience in every way

[Ajfar]

Can anyone tell me what's the number to dial to check your GP phone balance and GP internet balance? I can't find it on the Grameen Phone site.

[F6_Turbo]

Originally Posted by Ajfar
Can anyone tell me what's the number to dial to check your GP phone balance and GP internet balance? I can't find it on the Grameen Phone site.

Prepaid credit balance used to be(haven't used prepaid in years, so not sure) - *566#

No idea about the internet

[mac]

Originally Posted by zsayeed
Not quite, 3G is still holding strong and will be for a WHILE. The global presence of 4G is a while away 2-5 years at a minimum for developed countries, and 10+ for developing countries. Just look at Europe's progress. US is much more advanced in that respect. Going to HSPA on the 3g evolution path can still bring about half the spectral efficiency of LTE. And that is without infrastructure change, no new spectrum procurement, and only a card swap in the Node-Bs and software upgrade at the core servers with a redimensioning of the links for increased traffic. WSPs will not be willing to overhaul an entire nework and get new spectrum to deploy 4G.

3G to HSPA will be in same spectrum, and spectrum is VERY Expensive. So, 3G will live a long time. Most operators have not yielded all that it can from 3G .. as yet. CapEx Investments and the need for new spectrum will hold back 4G for a while, and to be able to get half the 4G speeds without new spectrum and infrastructure is a big business driving force for staying with 3G. Heck, I would. That would be the business sensible thing to do.

GSM->GPRS->EDGE->WCDMA->HSDPA->HSUPA->HSPA is a homogeneous evolution.
To go to 4G is a totally disjoint path. It is disruptive. 4G is based on OFDM, while 3G was based on CDMA (Even though GSM was a TDMA structure, the core evolution of GSM-GPRS-EDGE-WCDMA was graceful, and retained the architecture and added incremental changes to the core). The infrastructure in the 2G to 3G evolution was E1 termination, elements were RNC, SGSN, GGSN, HSS - all of them stayed the same.
In 4G the termination needs to be IP at Base Station, the core is all IP, circuit voice is NOT supported - ever! The core is P-Gateway, S-Gateway, MME. The eNodeB is a router and a base station and an RNC. 3G to 4G evolution is a non-evolution and actually a new breed where the 3G CapEx will all be dismantled once the entire subscriber base switches over to 4G for a particular operator. Until the last guy leaves, the operator will have to maintain to parallel paths, and assuming OpEx is 10% of cumulative YoY CapEx - that is an expensive proposition maintaining two parallel sets of technicians, retraining, two knowledge bases. The human factor is the most expensive to run any network, and introducing a disruptive change spikes your OpEX.

On another note, the Mobile Device is one of the major contributors/detractors for subscriber growth. the 3G volume is so high, that the WCDMA/GSM chip-sets are most likely at 1/10th the price of LTE chip-sets. Tom dick and harry foundries can make the 3G chips. For LTE there are a handful of vendors: Qualcomm, LG, Infenion. The economies of scale will take a while to kick in. Plus, the same chipset handles WCDA and GSM with GPS as well (Qcomm's SnapDragon). But to have the same chipset handle LTE and 3G will be an expensive task. Most likely they will be two parallel chips in the hand-set. That too is costly.

3G to 4G is not so simple. For 90% of the world's operators. Period.

Therefore, its not an "LoL' moment at all. Don't need to look at Bangladesh for that... take a look at Europe! They too will lag - they are lagging... its a business decision.

Having said all that, all these 3G-4G discussions will not help BC, because unless the long-haul link is fixed, and as long as the server for BC is off-shore, 3G or 4G for local access in BD will be moot as the bottle neck is the long-haul network.

PS: Had it not been for VzW's 4G, ATT would have stuck to 3G/HSPA. Competition changes the game. The technology may speak a different story that HSPA is half as good, and most people do not need more than that (except the video hogs) - but mantra sells, and VzW would have used 4G as mantra. Plus the Apple company changes the game - empowering users with greater resolution and bandwidth - crunching the WSPs network. In fact with the best plan from ATT's data plan, you can eat up your months supply of MBytes in two hours. There is basically a gap between business and technology in 4G. It is not perfect - unsettling and needs to be thought out. It is complex - NO LOL there.

First of all, the spectrum band to be auctioned (2.1GHz) will be a technology neutral one. So, the operators will be able to deploy their preferred technology. Why spend on HSPA when the world is almost LTE ready?( 73 networks already, end of 2012 the number will exceed 100)

LTE offers so much superior spectral efficiency than HSPA with other great features like maximum cell throughput of over 86 Mbps (that's for the 10 MHz band which the BTRC will aunction). Also there are advanced features like SON (UMTS SON BHUA)

Bangladesh is actually at an advantage as 3G hasn't been launched yet. Yes, skipping UMTS/HSPA will require much more initial CAPEX. But LTE is more CAPEX and OPEX efficient. So why should an operator invest on HSPA and then again invest on LTE after few years? I say skip HSPA and go to LTE if you have the money and the intelligence.

[mac]

Originally Posted by zsayeed
heh heh was having fun writing it. That could be worth a lot of money to someone. I have a gut feeling that 4G would be a good green field network rather than a migration path for developing countries, at the present time.

yeah, currently doing something similar to that 'WORTH LOT MONEY' thing for free for a company...only to have their name tagged in my CV when I will graduate later this year. Good opportunity to learn though.

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by mac
First of all, the spectrum band to be auctioned (2.1GHz) will be a technology neutral one. So, the operators will be able to deploy their preferred technology. Why spend on HSPA when the world is almost LTE ready?( 73 networks already, end of 2012 the number will exceed 100)

LTE offers so much superior spectral efficiency than HSPA with other great features like maximum cell throughput of over 86 Mbps (that's for the 10 MHz band which the BTRC will aunction). Also there are advanced features like SON (UMTS SON BHUA)

Bangladesh is actually at an advantage as 3G hasn't been launched yet. Yes, skipping UMTS/HSPA will require much more initial CAPEX. But LTE is more CAPEX and OPEX efficient. So why should an operator invest on HSPA and then again invest on LTE after few years? I say skip HSPA and go to LTE if you have the money and the intelligence.

Beacuse HSPA investment is peanuts compared to LTE*. A card swap on the Node-Bs. HSPA will suffice BD demand for a looooooong time. Plus the same modem will be able to fall back to EDGE where there is no 3G. With the same chipset. 100 networks is nothing. The big ones are all not going there yet...look at EU. Due to the economies of scale with 90% of the world in 3G, you can get equipment cheaper for at least the next 10 years. Even VzW does not have LTE nationwide. And Vzw deployed this year, and is one of the leading providers in the world. Plus they migrated from CDMA. If City is looking for expansion, LTE is right for them.

With a 20 GiG international backbone, you don't need to empower 1 Lakh Subs with 100 MBPS download speeds.

*given that Release 6 is deployed.

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by mac
yeah, currently doing something similar to that 'WORTH LOT MONEY' thing for free for a company...only to have their name tagged in my CV when I will graduate later this year. Good opportunity to learn though.

Very good. Let me know if you need any advice. I have been doing this for the last 19 years.