Towards a connected society: Hurdles to overcome

The growing importance of a digitally connected society in today's modern world requires no explanation.

Over the last two decades, many developing countries, including Bangladesh, have proven the direct correlation between the increase of mobile and internet penetration with gross domestic product (GDP) and economic growth.

In fact, we have witnessed how digital connectivity can empower people from all spheres of society by making them better equipped to handle socio-economic challenges.

It is needless to say that the telecom industry in Bangladesh has played a pioneering role in ensuring connectivity across the country since its inception. Having accomplished its initial mission of providing mobile telephone to the masses, it is now focused on making mobile internet accessible in every corner of the country.

The fact that mobile internet users in the country account for over 90 per cent of the total internet users clearly reflects the industry's contribution to this progress.

With over 180 million customers, the telecom industry remains a driving force behind the government's "Digital Bangladesh" agenda.

The coming years are going to be extremely important for the telecom industry. It has already been instrumental in making the masses aware of the importance of connectivity, internet, mobile financial services, and other digital facilities.

Digitalisation of our society is now on the verge of taking off, but we need to make sure that it happens in the right direction; and for that, all the players, including telecom operators, vendors, technology providers, regulators, and of course the government, must move forward with clearly defined strategies.

As we have seen, the government is eager to step into the 5G era. While we always embrace new technologies, before stepping into 5G, we need to realise that 5G is just not another technology for providing better wireless speed, but rather an entire ecosystem.

To have that ecosystem, we need to ensure that considerable internet coverage is provided to the masses, and it should be done through 4G. However, in our country, it has been nearly four years since 4G was launched, but the 4G smartphone penetration rate is still around 30 per cent, which is still low.

Therefore, the challenges lie not only in rolling out advanced network technologies, but also in encouraging people to adopt them. For that to happen, we need to have the abilities to reach end customers through their proper applications.

Currently, the regulations and policies are not integrated enough for this purpose. Therefore, vertical integration of policies among various government bodies is an absolute necessity before 5G is introduced nationwide.

It should also be kept in mind that the speed provided by 4G is sufficient for the kind of customer-base we have served in Bangladesh so far. Moreover, 4G will remain the base 5G technology for next generation mobile networks even after 5G is launched.

Telecom experts even opine that without a 60 per cent to 70 per cent 4G smartphone penetration rate, a telecom ecosystem cannot be fully prepared for 5G. 

As a development partner of the government, the telecom industry needs some regulatory support to turn the 5G campaign or any technological endeavour into a success. It should be realised that our regulations need to transform with technology.

Some regulations that were introduced previously in different circumstances cannot address our emerging challenges adequately.

Moreover, a few areas in the telecom ecosystem remain more regulated than necessary. We expect a flexible regulatory framework that is conducive to bringing new approaches in the industry.

For example, network sharing can play a key role in expanding 5G across the country. If allowed to expand through a collaborative approach, telecom operators' investments in 5G will decrease to some extent; and as a result, 5G-enabled services will become more affordable on the customers end.

High spectrum prices and high tax rates imposed on telecom operators are major concerns as well. Last year, three operators had to make large investments for spectrum to improve their services

It is extremely challenging to keep on investing in this way in a market where the return on investment is still low. Small operators will especially be under immense financial pressure once again if the prices of spectrum needed for 5G are not reduced. Despite the aforementioned challenges, there is no reason why we should not get prepared to embrace new technologies.

We just need to make sure that people's demand for technology grows considerably over time. In a market like Bangladesh where many customers are price-sensitive, the best way to do this is to make the internet and digital devices affordable to the masses.

The prices of such products have gone down significantly over the last few years. If taxes on them are reduced further, people will obviously feel more encouraged to embrace a digital lifestyle, and thus they will contribute to building a more digitally connected society.

We can certainly expect such a tax reduction move from the government whose vision for development is fully intertwined with digitalisation.

With the introduction of 4G, Bangladesh stepped into the high-speed information highway of Industry 4.0. Along with providing customers with fast and affordable internet, mobile operators are introducing a wide array of digital services and platforms, which are not only helping them adopt a digital lifestyle but are also contributing to reducing the digital divide in the country.

In the coming days, these locally developed digital platforms will help reduce the dominance of international platforms.

As the adoption of digital services is increasing, the government and policymakers are also working on regulatory frameworks for different kinds of digital services and OTTs.

We expect that the regulatory frameworks will be consistent and future-forward enough to accommodate the transformation of technology and market dynamics, so that they remain sustainable in the next decade.

They also need to be well-defined and transparent, which are prerequisites for much-needed investments in the digital sector.

The telecom industry has always remained in the forefront of Bangladesh's digital journey. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen how crucial telecom services can become for ensuring nationwide connectivity.

The unprecedented situation has shown all the extent to which we can serve society through our services. With more responsibility and determination, we will keep contributing to building a society where connectivity can empower people to materialise the vision of a Digital Bangladesh.

Taimur Rahman is the Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer at Banglalink