Bangladesh has entered the fifth-generation (5G) era in telecommunication as Prime Minister's adviser for Information and Communication Technology Affairs Sajeeb Wazed Joy virtually inaugurated the service at a function here on Sunday, reported local media.

       Teletalk, the state-owned telecom operator, launched the service at the country's six sites on a trial basis. The sites are Tungipara in Gopalganj, National Martyrs' Memorial at Savar, Bangladesh Secretariat, Prime Minister's Office, Dhanmondi-32 and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka, reported Dhaka Tribune.

       The private operators are expected to introduce the 5G next year after the auction for spectrum in March, said Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, a country-based news agency.

       Marking the launch of the 5G services, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a video message screened at the function extended her heartfelt greetings to the countrymen for the launch.

       Emphasising that the 5G technology is launched through Teletalk Bangladesh Limited on a limited scale, Hasina said that the services would commercially be expanded all over the country soon.

       According to Dhaka Tribune, the chief guest at the programme, Joy said that as long as Awami League will stay in power, Bangladesh will march forward in all sectors. "We will go ahead keeping pace with the world," he added. 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. Phone companies began deploying the 5G services worldwide in 2019.

       (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)