Teletalk offers internet data at nominal price for university students amid COVID-19

Teletalk is going to deliver internet data to public and private university students at minimum prices to facilitate seamless online lessons amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Students from all universities across the country under the BdREN platform of the University Grants Commission will get the service, a media statement from the UGC said on Wednesday.

A total of 42 public and 68 private universities currently use the BdREN platform. The students will be able to take online classes through Zoom Web conferencing tool. They have to on Teletalk network for that, it read.

“The service can be availed by recharging Tk 100 each month. The recharged balance will add to the balance and can be used for voice calls or data. Unused balance will be rolled over to the next recharge. But it cannot be had by recharging less than Tk 100 or if a SIM does not have minimum data.”

The BdREN asked all mobile telecom operators on Jul 21 to let the students access online education resources free of cost. Bangladesh’s state-run mobile service provider Teletalk returned a consent letter on Aug 28.

“Teletalk believes a huge portion of the students will switch to their networks for online classes through this initiative,” the statement added.

UGC Chairman Professor Kazi Shahidullah said, “This is a very timely initiative to keep the online classes running for students during the coronavirus pandemic.”

He thanked the education ministry, department of posts and telecommunications and Teletalk for responding to their appeal of providing internet bandwidth to students at a nominal price.