PSTN Come Back

After remaining switched off for two years, private land phone operator RanksTel is expected to start its operations on Sunday. The operator has already re-registered its 20,000 subscribers by giving new rim cards, although it had over three lakh subscribers when its licence was cancelled in May 2010 on allegations of involvement into illegal use of voice over internet protocol, said AKM Shamsuddin, chief operating officer of the company. The company's network system has already been prepared to run, he said, adding that RanksTel will come into operations with 140 base transceivers (BTS) in Dhaka and Chittagong regions initially. The company will prepare another 90 BTS ready for operations in Sylhet, Khulna and Bogra regions in phases, Shamsuddin said. The operator completed checking of all the batteries with its BTS and replaced half of them, since it got its licence back on July 17 last year.