Experts at a workshop urged the government to revise the country’s decade-old telecom policy to accommodate the technological development to spur further growth of the sector.
The call came up from a workshop “Realizing the potential of mobile in Bangladesh” organized by the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) and GSMA in a city hotel.
Irene Ng, Asia Regional Head of GSMA said mobile industry has already contributed a great deal towards the development of economic and social development in Bangladesh.
“But, more needs to happen to enable the full potential of mobile to be realized and for digital inclusion to take place in Bangladesh,” she added.
“We look forward to the 1998 National Telecoms Policy to be updated to keep up with changing technology and for mobile enabled solutions in the areas of health, education and financial inclusion to be provided to all so that the vision of “Digital Bangladesh” can be truly met,” opined Irene.
T I M Nurul Kabir, Secretary General of AMTOB said: “Mobile Network Operators and international organizations support an effective public private dialogue through formation of a committee with government representatives to engage in a review of the current legislative, policy and regulatory framework governing the operations of mobile network operators.”
At different sessions, experts said, Bangladesh is, in many ways, a country ahead of its time in terms of mobile access. Despite being ranked as a low income country, over 50 per cent of the population subscribes to mobile services and has outpaced all its peers in terms of network coverage.
Mobile network operators are looking to innovative Value Added Services (VAS) to remain competitive and respond to the slowing growth in core mobile services.
Services that add value to and improve on the livelihoods of the consumer are more likely to support these goals.
They thought Bangladesh has a myriad of social challenges, including low literacy rates, child malnutrition, and poor access to electricity and a significant urban-rural divide. However, mobile penetration is higher than would be expected given its low-income status. Subscriber penetration reached 40 per cent at the beginning of 2014 and it is expected to grow to 50 per cent by 2020, they hoped.
