More than 85% people of the country do not know why they should use internet and how to use the technology for their personal development.
Experts and telecom operators in the country revealed the figure at a dialogue titled “Empowerment of Society and Internet for All” at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
Leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone and its parent company Telenor organized the dialogue as GP acknowledged their responsibility in educating the people.
“Users number is a challenge for us to flourish the internet-related business as 85% people have no idea about it,” GP chief executive officer Vivek Sood told the meeting. “The overall ecosystem is not ready to flourish the business. It should be developed.”
Referring to global figures, Vivek said every two young people out of three prefer to connect with each other through social media, but in Bangladesh the number is very frustrating.
Munir Hasan, President of Wikimedia Bangladesh, said the internet price is the main barrier to grow the market.
“Whenever I visited any University, I tell the students why you do not block the roads to put pressure on the government in reducing the internet price. If the students are aware of it, the government is bound to think this way,” he said.
Students also need to understand that every one lakh new internet users create 8 new jobs, he shared a study finding.
Raihan Shamsi, CEO of Accenture Bangladesh, a sister concern of Grameenphone, proposed providing incentive to the users for e-billing, m-banking.
Ahteram Uddin from browser ‘Opera’ pointed out three challenges to prospective internet boom – affordability, and lack of education and adoption.
MA Mobin Khan, CEO of EATL, said telecoms would spend cores of dollars for 3G. If they do not deploy internet in the rural areas, it will be meaningless. “The government should put pressure on the operators to go through rural areas to boost internet users.”
Mostafa Aminur Rashid, Chairman of handset provider Symphony, said currently three lakh smart phones are being imported annually as compared to only 50,000 to 60,000 just one year ago.
Shameem Ahsan, president of Basis, stressed the need for creating more local contents to help flourish the internet market. “People will use internet if they see benefits in terms of services like health, agriculture and banking. So we need to make available the services at affordable prices as early as possible.”
Hakon Bruaset Kjøl, senior vice president of Telenor Group, Sonia Bashir Kabir, CEO of DELL and Nesar Maksud Khan of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry also attended meeting.
Speakers said 50% of the people do not have a mobile connection and only 30% of the total subscriber base uses mobile internet.
Operators said they are investing billions to develop networks, but many of those who stand to gain the most are not aware of what they are missing.
They said getting Bangladesh’s budding entrepreneurs and vast rural population online, and enabling them to take advantage of education, healthcare, financial and e-government services, will be a shot in the arm for the economy and a life-changing endeavor for almost 80 million people.
