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Respected Secretary General, representatives from around the
world, Assalamualaikum & goodmorning. I represent the peoples
republic of Bangladesh, a third world country which has formed a
democratic government after struggling for two years.
It is a matter of great pleasure and privilege for me to
address such a dignified assembly on the event of World
Telecommunication Policy Forum. My earnest thanks go to ITU and
the concerned agencies of the host country. This is indeed a
great opportunity to exchange views on important policy issues
that will be helpful for all of us to cope up with the fast
changing ICT environment. I am very delighted at the commitment
of ITU to connect the world. The ITU focus of achieving
equitable communication to everyone is really praiseworthy. The
need for analyzing the impact of recession on ICT industry is
very rightly pointed out by ITU. Moreover, ITU’s effort to
enhance ICT usage in combating climate change and natural
disaster will help many disaster prone countries like
Bangladesh. The trainings and workshops arranged by ITU have
helped us a lot in perceiving the emerging complexities of ever
changing ICT world.
Hounourable Prime Minister of the Peoples Republic of
Bangladesh has declared her vision to build a ‘Digital
Bangladesh’ by 2021. To implement the vision, the Government is
striving to bridge the digital divide between the urban and
rural areas.
The first and foremost challenge to materialize our vision
would be to ensure overall connectivity at an affordable cost.
In Bangladesh the connectivity has grown substantially in recent
years; which resulted in a teledensity of 30.66%. Having said
that, it is mention worthy that the broadband penetration rate
in Bangladesh is not satisfactory yet. However, both domestic
and international connectivity is required to increase the
internet penetration to a reasonable state. We have issued
Broadband Wireless License to three organizations; they are
going to launch WiMAX in Bangladesh very soon. We hope that
WiMAX can play a very crucial role in bridging the digital
divide in Bangladesh.
With the intent to enhance connectivity, we are now
emphasizing on the establishment of infrastructures to connect
the unconnected. Importance is being given on laying more
optical fiber to reach the marginal people of the country. In
this regard, we have issued Nationwide Telecommunication
Transmission Network (NTTN) license, to private companies. They
would build the telecommunication infrastructure countrywide.
The licensee organization will establish fiber connection in
order to facilitate the proliferation of broadband internet
throughout Bangladesh.
Apart from domestic connectivity, we are also thinking of
boosting international connectivity. We are in the process of
examining the feasibility of availing terrestrial connectivity
along with second submarine cable.
To ensure successful accomplishment of the vision of Digital
Bangladesh, a holistic approach is needed and our Government is
determined to do that. We suppose, public-private partnerships
will probably a key to success in this regard.
We have formulated ‘National Broadband Policy’ with a vision
to build a people-centered, development-oriented Information
Society, where everyone would be able to access, utilize and
share information and knowledge easily and efficiently. We are
convinced about creating an environment for the development of
access networks and interconnection of networks to spread
broadband services throughout the country. We are willing to
ensure highly advanced and secure broadband services to the
Bangladeshi consumers at an affordable price.
As we understand that affordability is one of the most
important factors in the proliferation of ICT facilities, we
have reduced the bandwidth price significantly. In addition to
that, we are sincerely pondering on reducing the taxes and
duties on ICT equipments in order to benefit people in the long
run. To address the affordability issue, we plan to revise the
revenue sharing conditions.
Continuous encouragement to new and emerging technologies is
a must for flourishing of ICT sector in the context of any
country. So, we look forward to promote newer technologies and
concepts such as 3G, Next Generation Network (NGN), Long Term
Evolution (LTE) etc.
Our government is patronizing the development of Call Center
industry in Bangladesh for generating employment and earning
foreign currencies. The Call Centers are being provided with
licenses at a nominal fee with reasonable revenue sharing
holidays.
I would like to conclude my speech here. I welcome
suggestions from you which might help us in reforming the ICT
policy towards greater benefit. Thank you very much for your
patient hearing.
Thank you all.
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