To make people aware of the latest cellular phone technologies, the first Sylhet International Telecom Fair 2009 will begin in the divisional city from April 1.

Theme Solution and Bangladesh Mobile Phone Businessmen Association (BMBA) will organise the 10-day fair at Hafiz Complex, Nizam Uddin Zitu, the BMBA president told a press conference in Dhaka yesterday.

The objectives of the fair are making a bridge between the mobile phone service providers and customers, increasing mobile phone subscription base and contributing to building a digital Bangladesh.

Mobile phone and PSTN (public switched telephone network) operators. hand set producers and importers, online

banks, mobile accessories and software providers and educational institutions that teach telecommunications will showcase their services and products in the fair.

The visitors, with a Tk20 entry ticket, will get special mobile phone packages, phone set and SIM cards at reduced rates, free download facilities and a fifty percent discount on mobile phone servicing.

Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith is expected to inaugurate the fair, which will have 70 stalls and 15 pavilions.

Former chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Marghub Morshed and First Vice President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers and Commerce Industry (FBCCI) Abul Kashem Ahmed were present at the press conference.