bangladesh order could be much more than us66 mill

from btimes.com.my

Cape Range Wireless gets US$66m Bangladesh contract


January 14 2005


TELECOMUNICATIONS equipment supplier Cape Range Wireless Malaysia Sdn Bhd has clinched a US$66 million (US$1 = RM3.80) contract to supply equipment to Bangladesh’s Peoples Telecommunications and Information Services Ltd over a period of 30 months.

Cape Range Wireless, a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with its head office in Malaysia, said all the agreements pertaining to the contract were signed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 12 last year.

The contract was awarded following 15 months of technical trials, evaluation and negotiations between Cape Range Wireless and Peoples Telecommunications, it said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur.

The wireless switches and access equipment will be supplied through Hayes (Bangladesh) Ltd, which will distribute Cape Range Wireless products in the region.

Peoples Telecommunications, which began operations as Bangladesh Rural Telecom Authority Pvt Ltd in 1989, already operates 39 telephone exchanges in Bangladesh.

Commenting on the deal, Peoples Telecommunications managing director Tim Nurun Nabi said the joint venture between the two companies will see shipping of equipment to provide services for 10,000 people by mid-March.

“Engineers from both Cape Range Wireless and Peoples Telecommunications will be working at multiple locations simultaneously to deliver telecommunications throughout the four telecom regions in which Peoples Telecommunications operates.

“The initial amount order for US$66 million is likely to be increased many times as demand already exist for over 1 million new subscribers,” he said.

Cape Range Wireless designs, manufactures and sells carrier-class telecom equipment for the rural and remote markets. It is a cost- efficient solution for voice, fax and broadband Internet access to remote communities including home subscribers, schools, clinics, Internet centres and payphones. It is developed to be easy to deploy and maintain in remote areas.