Countrywide internet service in 10 years
As per provision of the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), AON will directly invest 60 million dollar for ICT training, setting internet exchange, tower and countrywide network, cooperating to set high-tech zone and start e-commerce.
Secretary of Science and Information Communications Technology Ministry Khan M Ibrahim Hossain and Chief Executive Officer of AON Quentin H Breen signed the MoU on behalf of their respective side.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Science and Information Communications Technology Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan was present at the signing ceremony at PID.
Breen told the journalists that the project of the internet service-providing company would initially cover 85 percent area of the country and the rest would be covered gradually.
"We will introduce two kinds of services - one is corporate business service and another public service. The corporate subscribers will have to pay 500 dollars per month and the second-category subscribers will have to pay only six dollars per month," said Breen.
"Any school in any village of the country will have the access to wireless broadband connection under the project. And AON will provide its free service to the primary schools," the CEO of AON added.
"It is a profitable venture, but our first priority is to provide the internet access to the mass people, not profit," said Dr Moyeen Khan.
"With the motivation of providing internet access to the young of each school, college and educational institution I have been pleading to my government for long," he said, adding that he sought for the project budget from all the donor countries, but no one did come forward.
"At last I have to look to the private sector for the budget of the project, and it is AON which came forward to help us," Dr Moyeen Khan told the journalists.
The project will first initiate radio-link wave and progressively introduce the fiber-optic link. It will have several base stations at 87 points across the country, which will include 19 in Dhaka.
Principal Information Officer M Muhaddes, Commercial Operational Officer of AON Dan Stanton and staff engineer of the project Reaz Shaeed also spoke at the press briefing.