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Native name | গ্রামীণফোন লিমিটেড |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| DSE: GP CSE:GP | |
| Industry | Mobile telecommunication services |
| Founded | 26 March 1997; 28 years ago (1997-03-26) inDhaka, Bangladesh[1] |
| Founder | Iqbal Quadir Muhammad Yunus |
| Headquarters | GP House,Bashundhara Residential Area,, |
Area served | Nationwide |
Key people |
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| Products | |
| Brands |
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| Services |
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| Revenue |  ৳150.4 billion (US$1.2 billion)(FY 2022) |
| ৳91.48 billion (US$750 million) (FY 2022) | |
| ৳30.09 billion (US$250 million) (FY 2022) | |
| Total assets | ৳185.09 billion (US$1.5 billion) (FY 2022) |
Number of employees |  1,475[2][3] (2021) |
| Parent | Telenor (55.80%) Grameen Telecom (34.20%) |
| Website | grameenphone |
Grameenphone LTD, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a)GP, is a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of December 2023, its subscribers span over 82.20 million.[4] It is a joint venture betweenTelenor andGrameen Telecom. WhereTelenor owns a 55.8% share of Grameenphone,Grameen Telecom owns 34.2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held.[5] As of Nov 2024, Grammenphone is Bangladesh's most valuable company with a market cap of more than ৳440.2 billion BDT or $3.6 billion USD (approximately).[6]
Grameenphone was the first company to introduceGSM technology over 900 and 1800 MHz in Bangladesh.[7] It was also the first company to introduce 5G network in the country, for which the first test was done inDhaka andChittagong metropolitan area in mid-2022. In September 2022, Grameenphone successfully conducted trials for the second time inDhaka,Chittagong,Sylhet,Khulna,Rajshahi,Barisal,Mymensingh andRangpur cities.[8]
FounderMuhammad Yunus founded Grameenphone to provide universal mobile phone access throughout Bangladesh, including its rural areas.[9][10] He was inspired by theGrameen Bank micro-credit 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 met and successfully raised money from New York-based investor and philanthropist Joshua Mailman. He then returned to Bangladesh and worked for three years to gain support from organizations such as Grameen Bank and the Norwegian telecom company,Telenor.[11]
On 16 November 2006, Grameenphone officially changed its logo to match its parent company Telenor's logo.
Grameenphone uses the following numbering scheme for its subscribers:
880 is theISD code for Bangladesh and is needed only in case of dialing from outside Bangladesh (otherwise, it may be substituted by a 0, making the prefix 013 & 017).
13 &17 is the prefix for Grameenphone as allocated by the government of Bangladesh. The following eight-digit numberXXXXXXXX is the subscriber number. After exhausting the 017 series, Grameenphone became the first operator to launch a second series, the 013.[12]
In 2018, whenMobile number portability was introduced users can port to any operator without changing its number.[13][14]
As of September 2024, total number of customer are 84.83 Million.[15]
According to Grameenphone, it has invested more than BDT 347.4 billion (US$4.12 billion) to build thenetwork infrastructure since 2018. Grameenphone has built the largestcellular network in the country.[16] Until July 2024, GP (Grameenphone) has 22,554Mobile Network towers or BTS, which geographically covers the largest population of Bangladesh with mobile network services.
The Grameenphone network is alsoGPRS/EDGE/3G-enabled, with a growing4G network, allowing internet access within its coverage area. its spectrum volume is 127. 4 MHz, 107.4 MHz are currently being used by Grameenphone, the remaining 20 MHz will be added from June 2025. Besides, Grameenphone is trying to buy more 850 bands of 10 MHz spectrum.
| Band | Frequency | Frequency Width | Protocol | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 900 MHz | 7.4;MHz | EDGE /LTE /LTE | |
| 3 | 1800 MHz | 20;MHz | EDGE /LTE /LTE-A, 2CC,3CC,4CC,5CC | |
| 1 | 2100 MHz | 20;MHz | LTE /LTE-A, 2CC,3CC,4CC,5CC | |
| 41 | 2600 MHz | 80;MHz | LTE /LTE-A, 2CC,3CC,4CC,5CC |
Grameenphone introduced pre-paid mobile phone service in Bangladesh in September 1999 via an EDGE/GPRS/3G/4G enabled network. Grameenphone was the first mobile operator in Bangladesh to offer internet via EDGE and 3G 4G services to its subscribers.[17]
In March 2022, Grameenphone became the first mobile network operator in Bangladesh[18] with embedded-SIM (eSIM) support.[19][20]
Type of site | Video streaming, internet television |
|---|---|
| Available in | Bangla,English |
| Headquarters | Basundhara, Baridhara,Dhaka |
| Area served | Bangladesh |
| Owner | Grameenphone Limited |
| Industry | Streaming |
| URL | bioscopelive.com |
| Registration | Optional, payment required for specific content |
| Launched | September 2016 |
Bioscope (Live TV) is avideo streaming platform for original shows, dramas, movies andlive tv launched in 2016.[21]
Ekhanei.com was an e-commerce service (also known as CellBaazar) to enable users to sell or buy products through mobile or internet. It was free to use for all Grameenphone customers but was closed in 2017.
With the help of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom operates the nationalVillage Phone program, alongside its own parentGrameen Bank and theInternational 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-operatedGSM payphone whereby a borrower takes aBDT 12,000 (US$200) loan fromGrameen Bank to subscribe to Grameenphone and is then trained on how to operate it and how to charge others to use it at a profit. As of 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 includingUganda andRwanda inAfrica.[22]
Grameenphone Corporate Headquarter (popularly known as "GP House"). Located atBashundhara R/A,Dhaka, was formally inaugurated on 23 November 2010.[23] GP House is considered one of the successful office buildings inBangladesh.[23] It has been designed byArchitectMohammad Foyez Ullah,Mustapha Khalid Palash and their team.[24][25]
Community Information Center (CIC) or GPCIC was an initiative 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 providedGSM/EDGE/GPRS infrastructure and technical support and other partners Grameen Telecom Corporation and Society for Economic and Basic Advancement (SEBA), were involved in selecting and training entrepreneurs to run the village centers. These CICs were 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 trained entrepreneurs so that they could demonstrate to people how to set up an e-mail account and best make use of the Internet. Currently, none of the CICs are being operated by GP.
A Grameenphone Centre (GPC) serves as a "one-stop solution" for customers, with all telecommunications products and services, under a single roof. A Grameenphone Centre also sells phones from vendors likeSamsung,Apple,Xiaomi and more.EDGE/GPRS modems and accessories such chargers and headphones are also sold at GPCs.
As of February 2013, there are 85[26] GPCs and they are strategically located at all major locations of the country operated by Grameenphone. There are two GP Lounges for customer experience of GP Digital Services. There are also 376,285 unique recharge outlets and 6,836 GP Express Stores all across Bangladesh.
Media related toGrameenphone at Wikimedia Commons
