Dhaka: State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Thursday said Teletalk, the state-owned mobile phone operator, will emerge as a strong competitor in the country’s telecom market within a year with its improved network and services.

“Different projects have been taken since March this year to turn Teletalk as a vibrant operator. If the projects are implemented with quick fund release, it’ll be able to strongly compete with other operators within a year, at least in terms of network,” she said.

The junior minister came up with the remarks while inaugurating a customer care centre of Teletalk on the 1st floor of Banani Post Office.

Tarana said nearly half of the work on a Tk 700-crore project for network extension of the state-owned mobile phone operator will be completed by January next. “Once the project work is done, it’ll be possible to expand the 3G network up to upazila level.”

Mentioning that huge investments are needed to improve and expand Teletalk network, she said they have already sent a project proposal involving Tk 3,200 crore to Planning Ministry for rapid extension of the network. “The Teletalk network can be expanded up to union level through implementing this project.”

Teletalk has currently 91 customer care centres, Tarana said, adding that they have a plan to increase it to 102 by February next.

Teletalk managing director Gias Uddin Ahmed, its brand ambassador and actor Zahid Hasan and other high officials from the mobile phone operator were present.

According to Teletalk, it has now nearly 45 lakh customers.

Presently, there are a total of six mobile phone operators doing business in Bangladesh.