The introduction of high-speed 4G mobile services is one step closer to fruition as Ericsson will start trial runs this month in Dhaka and Chittagong.
The Swedish telecom equipment maker has already brought in the equipment needed for the test runs, which will be done using a top mobile operator's network, said Abdus Salam, chief technology officer of Ericsson Bangladesh.
The objective of running such trials is to get a better grasp of the technology and to figure out the kinks such that they can be ironed out before commercial deployment.
“This is the right time to roll out fourth generation mobile services in Bangladesh,” Salam said, adding that a few countries in Southeast Asia have already deployed the technology and are reaping its benefit. Mobile broadband has contributed to the economic growth of Bangladesh, he added. For the test run, Ericsson is using 5 Megahertz spectrum from the 1,800 band and another 5 MHz from the 2,100 band. Earlier, another telecom vendor Huawei conducted test runs with top three mobile operators' network and found moderate speed, about 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps, both for uploading and downloading.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission will award the 4G licences shortly; it has already finalised the proposed guideline for the service. In the draft guideline, the BTRC has proposed Tk 15 crore as licence fees for 15 years and another Tk 7.5 crore as annual fees. All existing 3G operators will be eligible for 4G licences.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/ericsson-set-run-4g-trials-1388971