Grameenphone, 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 between Telenor and Grameen Telecom. Where Telenor 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 ৳440.2 billion BDT or $3.6 billion USD.[6]
Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM 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 in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan area in mid-2022. In September 2022, Grameenphone successfully conducted trials for the second time in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal, Mymensingh and Rangpur cities.[8]
History
Founder Muhammad Yunus founded Grameenphone to provide universal mobile phone access throughout Bangladesh, including its rural areas.[9][10] He was inspired by the Grameen 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]
Changing logo
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 13 XXXXXXXX
+880 17 XXXXXXXX
880 is the ISD 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 number XXXXXXXX is the subscriber number. After exhausting the 017 series, Grameenphone became the first operator to launch a second series, the 013.[12]
As of September 2024, total number of customer are 84.83 Million.[15]
Network
According to Grameenphone, it has invested more than BDT 347.4 billion (US$4.12 billion) to build the network infrastructure since 2018. Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country.[16] Until July 2024, GP (Grameenphone) has 22,554 Mobile Network towers or BTS, which geographically covers the largest population of Bangladesh with mobile network services.
Spectrums
The Grameenphone network is also GPRS/EDGE/3G-enabled, with a growing 4G 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.
Frequencies used on Grameenphone Network in Bangladesh
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 released embedded-SIM (eSIM).[18][19]
With the help of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom operates the national Village Phone program, alongside its own parent Grameen Bank and the International 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-operated GSM payphone whereby a borrower takes a BDT 12,000 (US$200) loan from Grameen 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 including Uganda and Rwanda in Africa.[21]
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 provided GSM/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.
Grameenphone Centres
A GPC at Gulshan, DhakaA franchised Grameenphone centre at Tejgaon, Dhaka
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 like Samsung, 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[25] 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.
^Isenberg, Daniel J.; Lane, David; Knoop, Carin-Isabel (12 March 2007). "Iqbal Quadir, Gonofone, and the Creation of GrameenPhone (Bangladesh)". Harvard Business Review.
