The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has recently decided to give approval to Walton Digi-Tech Industries to locally manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs) specifically for handsets.

This will enable the local electronics manufacturing giant to become the first Bangladeshi company to make the product at home.

A PCB is made of insulating material on which various electronic components such as processors and sensors are placed to be connected and controlled using conductive pathways etched on its surface.

It supports compact, layered designs to fit within the profiles of slim devices and is crucial for reliability, durability, and performance, impacting overall device functionality and user experience.

Walton already manufactures PCBs for computers, mobile phone chargers and batteries. This will be its first facility manufacturing multilayer PCBs for mobile phones.

The company will get preliminary approval to import raw materials and make the PCBs for six months and if the quality checks out during this time, it will get final approval.

Such approval would open a path to enhance value addition in the manufacture of mobile phones in Bangladesh, which is mainly dependent on imports for the majority of components.

The value added by PCBs may represent around 5 percent to 7 percent of the total manufacturing cost of a mobile phone, depending on the device's specifications and features, according to industry people.

It is a good step for increasing value addition in the local mobile manufacturing industry, said Brig Gen Mohammad Moniruzzaman Jewel, director general of the BTRC's Spectrum Division.

Walton manufactures numerous electronics and digital devices that require PCBs. If other companies source PCBs from Walton, it will save a significant amount of foreign currency for the country, he added.

Earlier, at the end of February, a delegation comprising BTRC officials, led by the Spectrum Division commissioner, visited Walton's manufacturing facility and prepared a report.

According to the report, they found adequate equipment, space, testing devices and manpower for the manufacture of the PCBs for mobile phones.

Manufacturing PCBs would enable Walton to qualify for VAT rebates.

To qualify, a manufacturer must not only establish a facility adequately equipped to produce the PCBs, chargers, batteries, housings and casings but also produce at least 50 percent of their components.

Walton Digi-Tech Industries started its journey in 2018 through the manufacture of desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, networking devices, monitors, projectors, motherboards, data storage devices, peripherals, wearables, workstations and tablet PCs.