Grameenphone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. Grameenphone launched its service on the independence Day Of Bangladesh March 26th 1997.
Grameenphone is now the leading Telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, with more than 16million subscribers as of December 2007.
Presently there are about 30million telephone users in Bangladesh, of which, a little over 1million are fixed phone users and the rest mobile phone subscribers.
Grameenphone has come along way, it is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (62%) the largest communications service provider in Norway, with mobile phone operations in 12 countries, and Grameen Telecom corporation (38%), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed Micro – Credit Pioneer, Grameen Bank.
Telenor has been instrumental in setting up such an international standard in developing the GSM service in Europe. Telenor has also helped to transfer this knowledge to the local Grameenphone employees over the years.
Facilities and Services from Grameenphone
* Balance a Validity
Dial *566# to know your current balance and its validity
* Customer Service
Call 121 to speak to Grameenphone Customer service (calls charged at local rates).
* Caller ID
this is a basic feature that allows you to view the number that is trying to reach you.
* Call waiting
this feature enables you to receive a 2nd call while you are already talking to another person. Call waiting can be activated by calling *43#, deactivate by calling #43#, while its status can be checked by calling *#43#.
* Call Conference
this is a unique feature which enables you to interact with multiple people at the same time. It allows you to make up to 5 calls so that everyone can talk to each other.
* Call Divert/Call Forwarding
You can divert/forward your incoming calls to any other number when your mobile is off, busy, cannot answer or out of coverage area.
* Call Barring
With this feature, you can restrict any unauthorized use of your mobile phone, incoming or outgoing. Outgoing call barring can be activated by calling *33*0000# (0000 default barring code), deactivated by calling #33*0000#
Incoming call restriction can be activated by calling *35*0000#, deactivated by calling #35*0000#
* Friends and Family low Call Rates
Subscribers will enjoy great Friends and Family rates through which they can talk at only 0.25Tk per Min. SMS at only 0.50Tk, to any 3 Grameenphone Family and Friends numbers.
To activate your F&F numbers, go to message option, type your desired F&F number and send to 2888. F&F numbers can be changed every 3 days.
* GPRS/EDGE via Mobile
You can use Grameenphones EDGE/GPRS roaming services for internet access, browsing and downloading content, sending and receiving E-mails, sending/receiving multimedia messages (with picture, sound, video clip) and many more features. It’s available for both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.
To activate EDGE/GPRS on your mobile, type “Edge p1” (for pre-paid service, it’s charged at 0.02tk/kb browsing and downloading) or type “Edge p2” (fixed monthly fee of 1,000tk plus vat for unlimited browsing, available for both post and pre-paid subscribers) and send to 5000.
You will receive 3 SMS settings (WAP, MMS and Internet), save these settings with the pin 1234. You will now be able to browse the internet with your mobile browser.
Please note, some handsets do not support SMS based settings and need to be configured through manual settings. In this case, call 121 for customer service.
Recharging Your Account
* Scratch Cards
Buy a scratch card and scratch off the covered area at the back of the card to get the hidden number, than call *555*hidden number# from your mobile set.
* Flexi load
Go to a flexi load retailer (theses flexi load outlets through out Bangladesh) and give him your grameenphone number. Tell him the amount you want to recharge (10tk – 10,000tk). The retailer will send the required amount to your grameenphone number.
* Balance Transfer
Subscribers are now able to transfer 50tk to 200tk balance to any grameenphone number; this balance gives validity of 3days. Now even a de-activated subscriber can become active by receiving balance.
To register for this service, SMS “Regi” to 1000. In replay you will get a 4 digit personal identification number (PIN), preserve it for your future use.
