BSS, Dhaka
According to a recent research findings with every ten percent increase in mobile phone penetration, a country’s GDP increases by 0.6 percent.
A Wireless Intelligence report said Bangladesh at present is one of the top ten mobile phone growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region. It said in 2007, Bangladesh recorded unprecedented increases in new mobile subscribers at 31.8 million.
Bangladesh has performed poorly in terms of landline telecommunications, which has in turn slowed ICT and internet penetration but in the last two years there were a spectacular
growth in the mobile telecom segment.
According to the report Bangladesh has 0.79 fixed lines per 100 people, as compared to 36, 33 and 90 in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively.
In Bangladesh low penetration of landline telecommunications has impeded the development of the IT and software industries and has deprived the country ICT induced governance improvement.
A report recently released by World Bank on “Harnessing Competitiveness for growth: How can we enable business for jobs and prosperity” pointed out that 39 percent of non-metropolitan enterprises are located in communities with fixed line phone connectivity, but only two percent of enterprises report owing fixed line phones, which is extremely low by international standards.
Ownership of fixed line phones among non-metropolitan enterprises with ten or more worker is slightly higher. However mobile phone ownership is around 32 percent.
97 percent of non metropolitan enterprises are located in an area with mobile phone connectivity. 86 percent firms with ten or more workers own a mobile phone compared to 31 percent of those with less than ten workers. Virtually none of the non-metropolitan enterprises report using faxes and, email or the internet.
Firms outside Dhaka and Chittagong urban areas also use email less frequently. Email usage is most active I garments and chemicals and pharmaceuticals sector and least so in food other manufacturing and services where only a quarter of firms use email. Email usage is particularly low in leather sector.
Courtesy of www.thebangladeshtoday.com
