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Mobile Mela creates a stir

Manisha Gangapadhyay
The GramcenPhone sponsored mobile phone fair 'Mobile Mela' has created such unprecedented excitement among prospective customers that the organisers announced that special show prices would be available throughout the country, a week and half ahead of the forthcoming Eid -ul-Fitr.
Following Friday’s mad rush, organisers decided to extend the four-day fair by a day, which would have seen it finishing on Sunday. But at the last moment they dropped that idea thinking that the
Mela's popular SIM card offer could be more accommodating for everyone if sold through retailers.
There was such frenzy for SIMs on Friday that booths had to be set up on the driveway of the Mela's venue, the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre. The pressure and commotion inside had threatened to get out of hand as visitors scurried for GrameenPhone SIMs at a mere Tk. 350, tire lowest price ever offered by any cell phone company in the country.
"I have bought several for my family members," said Jinla, who 1 ives with her Barents.
The convergence of customers was so massive on Friday that a huge decorative board at the entrance and some of the booths inside the fair came tumbling down by the onrush of crowds.
Many could be found in groups on the floor of the Centre busily filling out forms for SIMs. When asked why they had come to the fair, almost no one mentioned the Mitsubishi Lancer, which was among the many attractive prizes that could be won at the fair.
According to an executive at Windmill, the fair's event manager, and at least 40,000 people purchased entrv tickets over the
four-day event. Another estimated 20,000 entered without tickets. Some vendors' claim that a total of 28,000 SIM cards were sold on just on Friday.
"There were even some customers who required help in filling out the forms because they were unable to read or write. I met a chotpoti wallah who bought a SIM card for his phone to take home to his wife."
The gathering was a bit more controlled and relaxed on Saturday with access being limited and crowd control strengthened by reinforcement of securi ty guards.
Although gates of the fair had
remained closed for most of Saturday, thousands waited outside for hours and patiently queued at the ticket counter and then again in line to get in.
"We have come not only to take advantage of the special offers but also to see what the fair is all about," said Suman Abdul Aziz, a student
Another customer said he was already an Aktel subscriber but still found the GrameenPhone offer too good to resist.
"I want to take advantage of Grameen's minute offer. I will be keep my Aktel phone at home as I do not have a TNT connection and use the Grameen Une when I
go out because its per minute rates for calls to other GP phones are half the usual rate," said Sal ahuddin Ahmed.
Booths at the fair primarily included those of local mobile set and SIM card distributors and international mobile set manufacturers. The sale of SIM cards was so high that most companies, including Nokia, limited sales to SIM cards only.
Half of all proceeds from entry ticket sales Tk 20 per person will go to Grameen Shikkha, while the other half will go to the construction of the Ahsania Mission Cancer hospital to be built in Uttara.