Organization:  Teletalk Bangladesh Limited (Teletalk)
Country: Bangladesh
Project Title: Expansion of Teletalk’s Mobile Broadband Network in Coastal, Hill tracts and other Hard to Reach Areas
Project Duration: 1 December, 2021 to 30 Jun, 2026
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Executive Summary

In most remote and climate-vulnerable regions, access to reliable digital connectivity has long been a challenge. To bridge the digital divide and enhance climate resilience, a transformative initiative was launched to extend high-speed 4G mobile broadband radio network to coastal, hill tracts and other hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh. Limited infrastructure and extreme weather often render the unreliable communication in these regions. This project initiates to overcomes these challenges by deploying 420 solar-powered 2G+4G sites, to ensure the millions of unconnected individuals to access critical digital services with uninterrupted communication. Connectivity is more than just an enabler—it’s a lifeline. The introduction of early warning systems provides real-time disaster alerts, helping vulnerable communities mitigate risks. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) ensures seamless access to telemedicine, e-learning, mobile financial services (MFS/DFS), and e-governance. Through open-source Digital Public Goods (DPG), students can continue their education, while small businesses and freelancers gain new economic opportunities. The project’s impact is already evident. In climate-sensitive areas like the Bay of Bengal islands and Haor wetlands, communities now have uninterrupted communication, even in the face of cyclones and floods. Fishermen use weather data to plan safer trips, while rural entrepreneurs leverage DPI-backed financial platforms to expand their businesses.

Objective

• Bridging the existing digital divide by introducing high speed mobile broadband services to the telecom disadvantaged population in coastal, hill tracts and other remote areas.
• Providing of high-speed 4G technology-based Internet and other telecommunication services at low cost to the people of coastal, hill tracts and other hard-to-reach remote areas.
• To increase additional 1 (one) million mobile subscribers by deploying new 420 sites (2G+4G) along with solar system. Ensure high speed data facility to eliminate the digital divide for the unconnected people.

Expected Result

By providing high-speed 4G mobile broadband in remote and climate-vulnerable areas, the project ensures that millions of people, including marginalized groups, can access vital information, educational content, healthcare, and financial services. This reduces the digital divide and promotes equitable access to knowledge. It promotes secure digital infrastructure through solar-powered 2G+4G sites, ensuring that reliable communication networks remain operational during climate-related disasters. This strengthens communities' ability to trust and rely on digital systems, especially in critical moments such as emergencies. Moreover, by introducing e-learning platforms and mobile financial services (MFS/DFS), the individuals and local entrepreneurs with the digital skills will thrive in the modern economy, fostering personal development and economic independence. On the other hand, the use of solar-powered infrastructure ensures that the project is environmentally sustainable and will build climate resilience by improving communication and response capabilities for disaster-prone communities.

Impact

Social: The project enhances access to essential services like telemedicine, e-learning, and mobile financial services for remote communities, improving disaster preparedness and social inclusion, especially for women and marginalized groups.

Economic: It creates new economic opportunities for small businesses, freelancers, and fishermen through mobile banking and weather data, while also boosting local tourism and job creation.

Environmental: The use of solar-powered 2G+4G sites reduces the carbon footprint and promotes sustainable energy, while real-time disaster alerts help communities mitigate climate-related risks.

Quantitative Impact: 420 solar-powered 2G+4G sites connect over 5 million people in remote areas, ensuring reliable access to digital services.

Economic Growth: Expected Over 500,000 customers to be connected and generated $3.9 million in revenue, with an additional 1 (one) million mobile subscribers.

Disaster Resilience:

Early warning systems help reduce disaster-related fatalities and losses, enhancing climate resilience.

Environmental Sustainability:

The project’s solar infrastructure helps reduce 3,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, contributing to sustainable development.

Digital divide reduction: The project boosts digital inclusion, economic opportunities, climate resilience, and environmental sustainability for vulnerable communities.

Indirect Impact of the project: Mobile technology will revolutionize lives of millions people of the project locations. Now mobile is not just a means for communication but it is a tool for many services including health, education, entertainment and even payment. In addition it will create a lot of employments for the purposes of market promoting SIM card distribution, recharge points, internet content development etc. which is certainly will contribute a lot to decrease unemployment problem. The brand image of Teletalk will become strong enough in those hard-to-reach areas to compete other big multinational operators of Bangladesh.

About: Teletalk

Teletalk Bangladesh Limited is a public limited company, registered under the Registrar of the Joint stock companies of Bangladesh. Total shares owned by the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.

We continue to grow and engage our customers through our clear commitment to offering high quality products and services as well as leading customer retention and loyalty programmers. Teletalk continues to be a part of the revolution that’s connecting millions of Bangladeshi people and around the world.

Teletalk Bangladesh limited was established keeping a specific role in mind. Teletalk has forged ahead and strengthened its path over the years and achieved some feats truly to be proud of, as the only Bangladeshi mobile operator and the only operator with 100% native technical and engineering human resource base, Teletalk thrives to become the true people’s phone – “Amader Phone”.

Basic Objectives for which the company was formed are highlighted here under

• To provide mobile telephone service to the people from the public sector
• To ensure fair competition between public and private sectors and thereby to safeguard public interest
• To meet a portion of unmitigated high demand of mobile telephone
• To create a new source of revenue for the government.

Project Location & Scope:

The implementation of the Project has started on March, 2022 in order to provide Teletalk’s 2G/3G/4G mobile network in Coastal, Hilltract, Haor, Island, Beel, Enclaves and Marshland areas of different locations of Bangladesh to develop the socio-economic status and connect the unconnected digitally divided remote people to the technology highway of digital Bangladesh.

The areas of the project deployment are as follows:

• Coastal areas of Bagerhat, Khulna and Bhola districts.
• Hill tract areas of Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarban districts
• Island areas of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Noakhali and districts.
• Haor areas of Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Sunamganj, Sylhet and Mymensingh districts.
• Marshland areas of Brahmmanbaria, Chandpur, Shariatpur Munshiganj districts.
• Small ethnic group areas of Tangail district.
• Enclave areas of Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur districts.

Figure: Project Location & Targeted Coverage

During the project implementation stage, the following equipment and works will be implemented to meet the project’s objective and targets:

• Number of new acquired sites: 420 nos
• Number of 2G+3G+4G single RAN Base Station equipment: 420 nos
• Number of Short Haul Microwave Links: 500 nos
• Number of Long Haul Microwave Links: 25 nos
• IP Core Network: 470 nos of IP core devices.
• BTS room and Tower construction: 420 sites
• Shared BTS room and Tower: 158 sites
• Commercial Power connection site quantity: 402 sites
• Grounding, MDB and fire-fighting: 422 sites
• DC Power (Battery and Rectifier): 422 sets
• Construction of solar power systems at 420 BTS sites and
• Other associated/ related system/sub-system with necessary infrastructures.

Figure: Construction work under the Project

Challenges

Infrastructure Deployment: Deploying 4G networks in remote areas with limited infrastructure poses logistical challenges. Climate Risks: Extreme weather can impact network reliability and the maintenance of infrastructure.

Solar Energy Sustainability: Maintaining solar-powered sites in harsh conditions can be challenging.

O&M toughness: Due to hard-to-reach area, in some cases there exists no commercial power. So a great number of sites will run through Solar System collaborating with DEG. Generator fuel carrying and fueling will be a great challenges during site maintenance activities.

Digital Literacy: Low digital literacy may hinder the effective use of digital services like telemedicine and e-learning. Financial Viability: Balancing affordable pricing and revenue generation in underserved areas remains a challenge.

Replicability

Through this project Teletalk will provide the best price differentiation and other VAS services exclusively targeting people’s comfort, attenuating the subscriber’s hassle, and building a level playing field that is beneficiary for the subscribers. Irrespective of geo-locations of the country, Teletalk is working on expansion of its network capacity and network coverage and will continue to do so with ongoing and forthcoming projects. The implementation works under the project will generate a major source of revenue for Teletalk and it also create a fair competition in the telecom industry to reduce the price in affordable range. The project will contribute a lot to the overall economic growth of the country by increasing the communication into the tourism, fisheries, employment in small & medium industries, Empowerment of women at village level, earning foreign exchange through outsourcing, trade and commerce activities. This type of Project can be replicated in Bangladesh and also worldwide to cover remote areas where a lot of unconnected digitally divided rural people needs the ICT facilities and services.

Sustainability

For the sustainability of the project and to retain the market share of Teletalk Bangladesh Limited in those hard-to-reach areas, it is needed to be expand the mobile network in the void/pocket areas to make the signal efficient. By expanding the network, new mobile subscribers and digital services will increase the revenue. Moreover, Solar-powered BTS sites reduce carbon footprint and operational costs. By integrating economic, environmental, and social sustainability, the project ensures long-term success while fostering climate-smart digital transformation. This initiative represents a scalable and sustainable model for bridging the digital divide, promoting climate resilience, and ensuring economic inclusion in the most underserved and climate-sensitive regions.

Views on WSIS Stocktaking and Prizes Contest

If this project wins the prize from WSIS, then it will inspire other telecom competitors of the country to deploy their mobile network in the hard-to-reach areas where till now nobody has shown their interest considering the low revenue earnings and remote accessibilities. Moreover, the socio-economic development impact of this project will let to think different mobile telecom operators world-wide to deploy their network at hard-to-reach areas as a part of their social responsibility.