Malaysian Axiata Group’s Robi embarks on massive Wifi project in Bangladesh
| DHAKA, April 20 (NsNewsWire) — Malaysian Axiata Group’s Robi in Bangladesh has embarked on a massive project to enable internet access using WiFi hot-spots across the country, reports Xinhua. Over the next six months, the company Tuesday said it will provide high-speed WiFi service in 500 top restaurants, cafes and retail outlets, 100 educational institutions, 10 public places (airports and railway stations) and over 350 buses, taxis and trains. In the buses, taxis and trains, WiFi will be available to all users with WiFi-enabled devices, it said. Officials say Axiata’s Bangladeshi operator has formed strategic partnerships with local firms, AccessTel, Qubee and Aamra for deploying and maintaining the WiFi hotspots. For rolling out WiFi in the buses and taxis, Robi has partnered with Coalesce, an e-commerce and online business platform based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, they said. The declaration came at the Robi WiFi launching event that took place Tuesday at Dhaka‘s Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. Bangladeshi State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Division Tarana Halim, MP was present at the launching ceremony as the chief guest. Terming quality of service as one of the major concern for the government, Tarana said the country’s cell phone operators are immensely contributing to the government’s efforts to build a digital Bangladesh. She said Robi’s initiative looks to further contribute to take quality internet service to the masses using WiFi technology. As the citizens become more accustomed to digital lifestyle, the measure will suitably address people’s growing demand for high speed data service, she said. Meanwhile, Tarana said the number of internet users in Bangladesh reached over 61.28 million as of March this year. Speaking on the occasion, Robi’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Supun Weerasinghe said, “Robi is committed to enable Government’s vision of digital Bangladesh and availability of internet is the prime enabler of this vision. Robi’s Chief Corporate and People Officer (CCPO) Matiul Islam Nowshad reiterated the company’s commitment to partner with the government in realizing Digital Bangladesh. He felt that WiFi technology provides the ultimate solution to address the growing demand for high speed internet service at affordable price. He expressed the opinion that Robi’s initiative to make the technology available for the masses will significantly improve the country’s standing in the global index for digital connectivity. WiFi technology is very efficient in providing high-speed internet to the indoor users. The data traffic generated from the WiFi hotspots complements the operators’ 3G network enabling them to better manage the data traffic on their own networks. This, in turn, helps in offering better internet experience to the users on the operators’ network. According to data of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Robi, a joint venture of Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia (92 percent) and NTT DoCoMo Inc of Japan (8 percent), has 27.6 million customers as of February this year with available mobile network all across the country. Enditem |
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