Mobile Internet 3G and 4G services have been resumed on Friday morning 10 hours after the closure of its services on Thursday night. After getting the directives of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the 3G and 4G services were reopened at 8:30am, said the officials of the mobile phone operators. Earlier, the officials of the mobile phone operators were instructed on Thursday night to temporarily shut down the services, said an official of the BTRC, preferring to be unnamed. The shutdown of mobile internet 3G and 4G services has become a much-talked issue to prevent rumours and propaganda ahead of the 11th parliamentary elections slated for December 30. Meanwhile, many subscribers said that mobile internet services were discontinued after 10pm on Thursday. However, there was no discrepancy in the use of internet for wire-based broadband subscribers. MHK

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has withdrawn block on 58 online news portals of the country. BTRC Public Relations Officer Samiul Khan Zakir confirmed Rtv online that block on the news portals were withdrawn at around 7 pm on Sunday. Earlier, the direction came in to block the portals. Of the 58 news portals the mentionable are- priyo.com, risingbd.com, paribartan.com, sheershanews24.com, dhakatimes24.com, newsbd71.com and others. General Secretary of internet service providing agencies-ISPAB Imadadul Haque said, we have got the direction from BTRC. Process to withdraw block on the websites has begun. The sites will be in operation by phase within few moments. Earlier he informed that the direction was given from BTRC to block the sites to International Internet Gateways (IIG) and Internet Service Providers (ISP). But he did not express in detail the reason behind the direction of blocking the sites. AH      

The number of internet users in the country is more than 9 crore. Of them 8.5 crore subscribers use internet on the mobile phones. The number of subscribers under four mobile phone operators is more than 15 crore. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) published the statistics of internet users on their website on Thursday. Of the internet subscribers, 8 crore 46 lakh 85 thousand subscribers use internet over their mobile phone network. Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) subscribers number crossed 57 lakh 33 thousand mark.  According to BTRC information, the total number of subscribers under four mobile phone network is 15 crore 41 lakh 79 thousand. Of those the number of subscribers of Grameenphone is 7 crore 7 lakh 9 thousand. Then the position of Robi, it has 4 crore 61 lakh 32 thousand subscribers. The number of Banglalink’s subscribers is 3 crore 34 lakh 66 thousand and state owned operator Tele Talk has 38 lakh 73 thousand subscribers. AH 

Fisheries scientists of Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU) claimed that for the first time they have revealed the full life cycle of hilsa fish. Professor of BAU Fisheries Biology and Genetics department Dr. Md. Shamsul Alam and his associate researchers said this at a press conference on Saturday held at the university journalists’ association office. They said that they have succeeded following the last two years research. The other members of the research team are- Professor Bazlur Rahman Molla of Poultry Science department, Professor Dr. Md. Shahidul Islam of Biotechnology department and Professor Dr. Mohammad Golam Quader Khan of Fisheries Biology and Genetics department. In the press conference Professor Dr. Md. Shamsul Alam said, genome is the full life sketch of any organism. All biological activities of a creature including birth, growing up, reproduction and suiting to the environment are conducted with genome. There are 76 lakh 80 thousand nucleotide in the genome of hilsa fish which is one fourth of human being. By knowing full genome sequence of hilsa answers of many unknown questions can be known easily. He also said, sustainable collection of hilsa can be ensured by unveiling such new information. It will be easy to create certain sanctuary in some specific places in the country. It will also be sure that whether our local hilsa fish is genetically different from the hilsa fish of other countries (India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Middle East). The research works for full genome sequencing of national fish hilsa is implemented through personal initiatives and hard work of the researchers and based on inter cooperation of different institutions. The researchers hope that through this research Bangladesh Agriculture University and country’s fisheries sector have enter into the era of full genome research. AH                

Bangladesh’s first geostationary communication satellite Bangabandhu-I (BS-I) is set to start its maiden transmission on Tuesday through broadcasting of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship. “We are set to broadcast the SAFF Championship using BS-I through Bangladesh Television (BTV),” said Dr Shahjahan Mahmood, Chairman of Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL), the organization responsible to operate the satellite. He added, “We will provide feed to BTV after receiving it from a private satellite TV station which wins broadcasting rights for the tournament.” Mahmood, however, termed this broadcast as “pre-test” for commercial operations while all previous tests required were completed successfully since the satellite took position into the orbit. “Now, the time has come to move ahead . . . and we would observe the operation of BS-I in next two weeks through this trial test,” he said Asked about the preparedness of local satellite TV channels for receiving the service, he said BCSCL engineers were working with them to install the necessary equipment. “Some equipment regarding the satellite connection is needed to be installed for switching over to Bangabandhu-I from other satellite,” said the chairman. He said Thales Alenia Space, the manufacturing company of the satellite, is yet to handover the control of the two ground stations – primary one in Gazipur and secondary one in Rangamati, to the BCSCL. The 12th edition of the SAFF Championship is the biennial international men’s football championship of South Asia organized by the SAFF and Bangladesh is hosting it from September 4 to 15. Bangabandhu-I was successfully launched from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida of United States at 16:14 local time (02:14 BST) on May 11. Most modern rocket “Block 5” version of the Falcon 9 of SpaceX lifted the satellite for the orbit located at 119.1 degree east and after ten days of launch, it took position in the desired location (orbital slot). According to the agreement, Thales Alenia Space of France will handle the satellite along with local engineers for next three years. To this end, an 18-member team of local engineers has been trained up. Bangladesh will operate satellite from 119.1 degree east using a payload comprising 26 Ku-Band and 14 C-Band transponders to deliver focused telecommunications coverage to Bangladesh. One transponder is equivalent to 36 MHz. Ku-band covers Bangladesh and its territorial area of the Bay of Bengal, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines. C- band covers Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan, and portions of Kazakhstan. The government took the Bangabandhu-I project in May 2015 and assigned the Thales Alenia by signing a $248-million deal in November the same year. The satellite has 15 years for mission life span while another three years for its design. The satellite will offer video services for Direct-to-Home (DTH), e-learning, Tele-medicine, Family Planning, Farming etc while voice service to cellular backhaul and disaster recovery, and data service for internet, SCADA, SOHO as well as business-to-business (VSAT). Source: BSS AH