Sheba Phone, an enterprise of Integrated Services Limited (ISL) under the private sector, will extend wireless telephone service in order to meet the much-awaited demands of the deprived segment of the rural population of the country. Stating this at Hotel Sheraton on Monday (July 25, 2005), the Chairman and Managing Director of ISL Afzal Hossain Chowdhury said ISL will install 100-125 wireless telephones in each upazila's various markets, business centres and important locations of 246 upazilas and Sadar upazilas under 34 districts of the country's South East and South West regions by next December 2005.

Chowdhury said that an agreement was signed between Integrated Services Limited and Alvarion, one of the leading telephone companies of the world based in the USA's Silicon Valley to implement the first phase of the project. The first phase project cost will be Tk. 100 crore including foreign exchange componant, he added.

This will enable Sheba Phone subscribers to talk to the subscribers of all local and foreign operators round the clock without any problem through this highly developed technology, Afzal Hossain Chowdhury further added.

The Chairman and Managing Director of ISL informed, considering the economic condition of rural Bangladesh the Sheba Phone has fixed its low tariff in comparison with T&T Board's local and foreign tariffs. When installed this wireless telephone connection the rural people will be highly benefited, he added. Chowdhury further informed that ISL obtained license from the Government in 1994 for providing telecom facilities in all upazilas of the country's south east and south west regions. This was initiated under joint venture with Malaysia Telecom and Sheba Telecom Pvt. Ltd.

The Press conference was addressed by Miss Barbara S Keary, Economic Officer, US Embassy in Dhaka and W Patric Duncan, Managing Director, Alvarion, Limited Asia Pacific. Making another point of great significance, he said Sheba Phone has fixed low tariff comparable to that of T&T's local and ISD call.