Telecom operators will send all SMS or notifications in Bangla text on the occasion of International Mother Tongue Day.

Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar inaugurated the service at an event at the conference room of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Sunday.

The Minister said that 91 percent of the technical activities related to sending SMS in Bangla by all the operators have already been completed. He also called on all operators to complete the remaining nine per cent work by June.

BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder said that 16 types of mobile SMS / notifications will be sent in Bengali.

BTRC Vice-Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra said that Bangla typing system has already been introduced in all mobile handsets and SMS service has been launched in Bangla for customers at half cost.

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Mentioning that many customers do not understand if a message is sent in English, he said that all Bangla speaking people will benefit from the introduction of SMS in Bangla.

Director General (Systems and Services) of BTRC Brigadier General Md Nasim Parvez presented the activities related to the introduction of SMS service in Bangla in detail.

He said that Banglalink is at the forefront in sending Bangla SMS to the customers as five per cent of the company's work is still left. Grameenphone is in the next position completing 90 percent of the work of sending SMS in Bangla.

Meanwhile, state-owned operator Teletalk has completed 85 per cent of the work while Robi 78 per cent operations.

At present, 151.85 crore daily text messages are delivered to the subscribers, he added.

Secretary of Posts and Telecommunications Division Md Khalilur Rahman said the government is trying to make Bengali the official language of the United Nations.

The Posts and Telecommunications Division has taken initiative to convert most of the laws printed in English of this Ministry into Bangla.

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Commissioner of Engineering and Operations Department of BTRC Engineer Mohiuddin Ahmed,  Commissioner of Legal and Licensing Department of BTRC Abu Syed Diljar Hussain, Director General (Spectrum) Brigadier General Md Moniruzzaman Jewel, Director General (Finance, Accounts and Revenue) Engineer Md Mesbahuzzaman and other senior officials of BTRC and mobile operators were present at the event.