Canada maybe a “first world” developed country, but when it comes to cellphone service, it’s got nothing when it comes to Bangladesh. Don’t believe me? Ask Piotr Staniaszek – who recently got a bill for over $85,000 from Bell Mobility. What was his crime? He used his cellphone as a modem so that his computer could get on the internet. He downloaded some high-definition video and transferred a lot of large files which, as the BBC put it resulted in “massive extra charges”.
You know what’s so funny? I do the same thing but it costs me only $20 a month. I seriously give my cellular provider a run for its money. I’ve done over 2 gigabytes of activity in the past few weeks alone. The latest episode of The Uncultured Project on YouTube took me 300 megs alone. But, unlike Canada, the cellphone providers here don’t care how much you use or whether you are using the internet on your phone or connecting your phone to your computer. Plus they have a feature so that prevents you from accidentally incurring excessive charges.
I used to think that Canada, having the status of a “first world” country meant that it did everything better than “the third world”. I guess, when I hear those terms, I imagine it as an analogy of a race. But, whenever I look at my cellphone here – I’m reminded that there are some things Bangladeshis do better than Canucks. I feel sorry for my friends in the Frigid North.
I wrote an article about this on NowPublic.com. It’s after the jump. It’s the same thing that I said here though – just more news-ish sounding.
Continue reading ‘Cellphone Plans and Service: Bangladesh Beats Canada. Period.’
It took over 24 hours after Dhaka City lost power for the cellphone network to fail. And, it took less than 6 hours to bring it back up again. Now that’s reliable. This isn’t the first time I’ve praised Bangladesh’s cellphone network. I’ve said its cheaper and better than Canada’s (Rogers Wireless sucks), I’ve been able to use it to watch TV streaming live from Canada, as well as to blog during a military curfew, and to upload all my videos and photos that are part of this project. But, during the Cyclone, it became an important lifeline for many people.
After my laptop battery died (and I could no longer type blog posts), I used my cellphone’s built in web browser to get text-only updates about the current situation. I was also able to keep myself somewhat busy by being able to check my mail and log into facebook. But, this was also an important means of letting loved ones from far away know that they are safe and sound. As Bangladesh From Our View points out, some used it to let their friends and famiy in the USA know they were safe.
The cellphone network only died once and that was around 2 or 3 am. This was after the area I was staying had no electricity for over 24 hours. The cell network was running on backup generators and reserve power. Eventually they must have run out of supplies and so the towers in my area went offline. But, overall, it’s been more reliable than everything else around here. I am currently without power for the third time today. But I haven’t missed a beat when it comes to my EDGE network-based internet connection.
I really should be paid for such glowing endorsements.
[This post has been updated - see below after the jump] Bangladesh seems to be apparently blocking access to Google and its related web properties. I noticed this on my own connection about 48 to 72 hours ago. Since then I have been able to get independent confirmation from those using different internet connections. This problem seems to affect Bangladeshis trying to access Google’s services via EDGE, GPRS, and landline based internet connections in both Dhaka and other locations in the country.
More details after the jump along with a way to bypass this blocking. Continue reading ‘BREAKING: Bangladesh Censoring/Blocking Access to Google’
As a Canadian I’m both surprised and sad to report that Bangladesh beats Canada when it comes to cellphone service. I’m writing now from a rural village in Bangladesh (called Madhupur). There is no electricity, no running water, and the diesel generator that was powering a ceiling fan and light bulb died earlier this night. Bangladesh is still a third world country afterall. But, despite all this, I am still able to check my mail, see what’s going on at Digg, and post to this blog.
Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world that can guarantee each one of its residents can get a cellphone signal – no matter where they are in the country. With a population of over 150 million (over four times Canada’s population) that’s pretty impressive. There are populated parts in the North in Canada that most cellphone service providers don’t bother putting up towers for. Not only can Bangladeshis send and receive calls from anywhere in the country – they can also surf the web on either an EDGE or GPRS network. Part of this has to do with free market competition in Bangladesh and corporate collusion in Canada. Continue reading ‘Bangladesh Cellphone Service Better than Canada’
