Sending e-mail through cell phone

Asif Hossain Khan, a lecturer of CSE, set up the gateway which will, at present, facilitate only the GrameenPhone subscribers to send e-mails at the same cost of Short Message Service (SMS).

Four third year students of CSE -- Sumanta Saha, Shah Mostafa Khaled, M Tahidul Islam and M Sanaul Karim -- developed the system as part of their laboratory project under the supervision of Asif Hossain Khan.

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To use the service, a cell phone user has to go through following actions: press the 'write message' option, write the recipient's e-mail address, press the hash (#) button, type sender's e-mail address or name, again press hash (#), write the message and send it to the gateway number, 0176-160061.

However, the users could not receive e-mails at their end, Asif said, adding that funds and cooperation of the cell phone operators are needed to set up such facilities.

"Users would be able to receive e-mails if the cell phone operators provide the project with a SIM card that will not charge the project for sending SMS," he said, adding that he will introduce more systems for easier mobile communication.

Asif has set up the gateway on his own, without receiving any support from the university.

"If the university or the cell phone operators provide funds for the project, we would be able to set up gateways for three other operators: Aktel, Sheba and CityCell," he added.

"The system will help the cell phone users living in remote and rural areas send e-mails if their areas are covered by the cell phone network," Asif said.