Dhaka, Apr 25 (UNB) - Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is going to deactivate additional SIMs of those who have more than 15 against one national identity (NID) card from early Friday.

The telecom regulator has identified a total of 2,049,927 such SIM cards and those will be deactivated within six hours after 12am, BTRC Senior Director Jakir Hossain Khan told UNB on Thursday.

As per the latest BTRC decision, a subscriber is allowed to register maximum 15 SIM cards against his/her NID card.

BTRC Chairman Md Jahurul Haque said this move will ensure subscriber-friendly services and bring discipline in the telecom sector, expressing the hope that people will be able to receive better telecommunication services without any hindrance.

On June 20, 2016, BTRC fixed 20 SIMs to be registered against one NID card and later it reduced the number to five on August, 2017.

On October 24, 2017, the commission revised its decision and set the number at 15.

subscriber can know how many SIM cards have been registered against his/her NID by dialing *16001# or by sending a SMS to 16001 typing the last four digits of the NID card.

Dhaka, Apr 24 (UNB) - edotco group, a telecommunications infrastructure service company and Zass Energy Services (ZES) is going to introduce first ever methanol based fuel cells in the country.

The Liquid Methanol fuel cell uses greener fuel and operates more efficiently, reducing both noise and environmental pollution. This solution also serves as a viable alternative for diesel generators ensuring reliable power at sites. 

Benefits of this new solution include less carbon emission, environment-friendly, safe and no health hazard.

Zass Telecom (Ltd.) (ZES) is the first company to make the methanol fuel cell based power systems commercially available in country in partnership with edotco Bangladesh sites for a 6 month trial. 

Rahul Chaudhary, Country Managing Director of edotco Bangladesh said that Edotco is committed to ensure less carbon emission through its continuous innovation and digitalization.

Meanwhile, ZASS CEO, Towfique Malek said “We will offer selected 200W, 3KW, 5KW and 10KW ‘outdoor ready’ fuel cell systems which are noise free, environment friendly and requires less maintenance.”

Dhaka, Apr 24 (UNB)- Grameenphone launched a nationwide call for applications from startups to join its program called GP Accelerator 2.0 at a press conference at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon on Wednesday.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister, ICT Division, Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Information Ministry made the announcement at the event as the Chief Guest. 

GP CEO Michael Foley along with Yasir Azman, Deputy CEO & CMO, Grameenphone; Solaiman Alam, Head of Digital, Grameenphone; Talat Kamal, Director, Communications, Grameenphone and Minhaz Anwar, Head of startup Ecosystem, Grameenphone were present for the event to present the details of the program   

Tech innovators and startups from across the country can register online at https://www.grameenphone.com/gp-accelerator-2.0. 

At the pre-acceleration round 25 selected startups will go through product research, design, validation and company formation. The deadline for pre-acceleration round is until May 15, 2019.

More advanced startups can apply directly for the accelerator program until July 15, 2019 where a four and half month’s training will be provided by expert mentorsfrom home and abroad.

Washington, Apr 24 (AP/UNB) — Google affiliate Wing Aviation has received federal approval allowing it to make commercial deliveries by drone.

It's the first time a company has gotten a federal air carrier certification for drone deliveries.

The approval from the Federal Aviation Administration means that Wing can operate commercial drone flights in part of Virginia, which it plans to begin later this year.

The FAA said Tuesday that the company met the agency's safety requirements by participating in a pilot program in Virginia with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership and Virginia Tech, and by conducting thousands of flights in Australia over the past several years.

"This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy," Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.

Wing said the approval "means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States."

The company didn't name any businesses that would take part in commercial deliveries. It said it plans to spend the next several months demonstrating its technology and answering questions from people and businesses in Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Virginia.

Wing said it will "solicit feedback with the goal of launching a delivery trial later this year."

Wing said that to win FAA certification it had to show that one of its drone deliveries would pose less risk to pedestrians than the same trip made in a car. The company said its drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and made more than 3,000 deliveries to customers in Australia.

The company is touting many benefits from deliveries by electric drones. It says medicine and food can be delivered faster, that drones will be especially helpful to consumers who need help getting around, and that they can reduce traffic and emissions.

Drone usage in the U.S. has grown rapidly in some industries such as utilities, pipelines and agriculture. But drones have faced more obstacles in delivering retail packages and food because of federal regulations that bar most flights over crowds of people and beyond sight of the operator without a waiver from the FAA.

The federal government recently estimated that about 110,000 commercial drones were operating in the U.S., and that number is expected to zoom to about 450,000 in 2022.

Amazon is working on drone delivery, a topic keen to CEO Jeff Bezos. Delivery companies including UPS and DHL have also conducted tests.

Dhaka, Apr 23 (UNB) – Following the three previous successful forums in the country, Re.Con, a knowledge sharing platform, will hold its 4th version of programme in the capital on Thursday.

The theme of this edition will be ‘Data tells stories, stories drive business’.

The main vision of Re.Con is to lead a pathway for brand marketers and agency leaders to deep dive into region-specific challenges facing each market, keeping data at its core. Re.Con aims to promote and nurture discussions, talks and idea sharing sessions mostly related to digitalisation.

Prominent speakers of the event will be Managing Director, ada Bangladesh and Robi’s Chief Digital Services Officer, Shihab Ahmad, ada’s Chief of Agency and Chief Operating Officer, Anurag Gupta, Google’s Director, Mathew Heller, and Robi’s Chief Commercial Officer, Pradeep Shrivastava.

The speakers will talk about Digital Data on Bangladesh Consumer Market, Evolution of Digital Marketing across Asia, Evolution of Content & Conversation and Predicting the future of advertising: Consumer Insights across Various Digital Media, at the knowledge sharing event.