Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Bangladesh trails behind 14 low, middle income countries in internet usage gender gap

When it comes to accessing digital services, Bangladeshi women are lagging way behind men with just 16 per cent having access to the internet compared with 33 per cent of the opposite gender, according to a GSMA report published recently.

Fair Group announces car assembly tie-up with Hyundai

Fair Technology yesterday announced it has entered into an exclusive partnership with South Korean automotive manufacturer Hyundai Motors to set up a car assembly plant in Bangladesh within the second half of next year.

To tighten purse strings, software maker moves office to rural backwater

Most companies have been put in harm’s way because of the ongoing pandemic, but a local software and mobile application developer stands to benefit from the new normal.

Digital Bangladesh held back by service delivery bottlenecks: Robi CEO

There is a very big gap between the reality and vision declared by the government on digitalisation as a huge number of bottlenecks lie behind service delivery processes, said a top executive of a Bangladeshi mobile carrier yesterday.

Bangladesh lags behind Asia Pacific peers in telecom services: GSMA

In the digital age, Bangladesh’s mobile telecom market is still dominated by the second generation (2G) services while scenarios in other Asia Pacific countries are quite different and are predominated by 4G services, according to a GSMA report published on Monday.

A whopping 46 lakh mobile connections vanished amid pandemic

Mobile phone operators are struggling to retain their active subscribers despite offering lucrative packages, including free minutes, SMS and extra data, as the coronavirus-induced economic downturn has affected all sectors and curtailed people’s income.

First SMP restrictions come into effect after nine years

Today will be the first time a restriction will come into effect on Grameenphone since the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) started working on Significant Market Power (SMP) guidelines nine years back to enhance competition and bring balance to the market.

Japan, the land of rising promise for Bangladesh’s ICT sector

Japan -- ever at the forefront of science and technology thanks to its culture of intensive mathematics education and reverence for engineers.

Bourse braces for its biggest IPO yet

Robi is set to come up with the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering yet within a couple of months, in what can be viewed as finally some good news for the depressed bourse.

GP files petition challenging SMP restrictions

Grameenphone filed a writ petition before a High Court bench yesterday challenging a June 21 directive of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) alongside two restrictions imposed under significant market power (SMP) guidelines.

Govt may not hike SD on telecom services

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal may scrap his plans to raise the supplementary duty (SD) on telecom services and double the deposit in VAT-related disputes following criticism and pleas from various quarters.

BTRC imposes two restrictions on GP

The telecom regulator has imposed two new restrictions on Grameenphone. The move comes 16 months after it declared the country’s leading mobile phone operator a significant market power (SMP).

March was mean for MFS providers

Given the need for social distancing and the push towards digital transactions to prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, one would have thought the mobile financial service sector would be having a bit of a purple patch.

Mobile operators caught in the cross-fire over SD hike rollout

Mobile operators are in the most bewildering situation: they are caught in the middle of a misunderstanding in the interpretation of the law by the revenue authority and the telecom regulator.

Dream71 to develop video game for East Timor children

Local software giant Dream71 Bangladesh is set to develop two educational videogames for East Timor, a Southeast Asian nation situated in the Pacific, a development that can be viewed as yet another feather in the cap to the country’s budding ICT sector.

Mobile Use Tax Hike: Users hurt, telcos irked

Telecom companies and other stakeholders of the industry yesterday slammed the spike in supplementary duty on mobile data usage, calls and any service that requires a SIM card.

Mobile bills on the rise once again

The cost of using a mobile phone would go up by more than 5 percent as the proposed budget looks to hike the supplementary duty on all kinds of SIM services to 15 percent from the previous 10 percent.

BSNL yet to clear payment for bandwidth import

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), a state-run mobile network provider of India, has deferred payments on internet bandwidth imported from Bangladesh despite scrapping its deal four months ago.

Telecom sector can galvanise economic recovery

As connectivity through digitalisation has proven worthwhile in keeping socio-economic activities up and running even during the pandemic, entire Bangladesh is running after innovation in this area, said Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of Grameenphone.

Mobile phone use to be even costlier

Mobile phone users are likely to face higher taxes next fiscal year as the government looks to chase a bigger revenue target riding on the essential services sector that generates more than Tk 30,000 crore in turnover a year.

NTT DoCoMo poured $350m in Bangladesh. But it is now leaving empty-handed.

Japan’s largest mobile firm NTT DoCoMo is leaving Bangladesh after 12 years completely empty-handed despite injecting $350 million in the country.

Robi subsidiary brings the future of video entertainment to Bangladesh

Red Dot Digital, a subsidiary of Robi Axiata, the country’s second-largest mobile operator, is set to roll a device on Friday that can possibly change the way Bangladeshis consume video content.

No more Uber Eats in Bangladesh from June 2

In a rather surprising move, Uber Technologies yesterday announced that it is closing down the operations of its food delivery platform Uber Eats in Bangladesh from June 2 as Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi attempts to steer the ride-hailing giant through the coronavirus pandemic.

Payout of safety net funds through MFS to enhance transparency

It was unimaginable for Robichandra Shil, a barber in Pingree bazar in Rajapur upazila under Jhalakathi, that he would receive Tk 2,500 on his mobile wallet from the prime minister as Eid gift.

March will be viewed as watershed for digital Bangladesh

The pandemic, it seems, was the big bang the digital Bangladesh charge needed to level up.

GP’s scrap with BTRC ate up market share

In an unusual development, Grameenphone’s active customer number came down to 7.53 crore at the end of March after falling for two consecutive months, as the operator could not get approval to sell new connections for a long time.

BTRC moves to clip GP’s wings on competitors’ urging

The telecom regulator has once again moved to impose restrictions on Grameenphone in line with its earlier declaration of significant market power (SMP) following complaints from the other operators that found the Telenor subsidiary’s recent offers and packages predatory.

Robi lets rip at the ongoing price war

In an unprecedented move, the country’s second largest mobile operator yesterday blew off its pent-up resentment against the market leader over its offer of free voice call minutes and bonus data packs on humanitarian grounds during the pandemic.

50 lakh poor households to get cash aid through MFS from May 14

The government’s move to provide cash assistance to 50 lakh poor families hit by the coronavirus pandemic is finally taking off, with the four major mobile financial service providers set to deliver it from May 14.

Grameenphone whips up a price war

Mobile carriers are bracing for a price war and this time it is centring on the coronavirus pandemic as they are offering free voice call minutes and bonus data packs through publicity gimmicks that are being overlooked by the regulator on humanitarian grounds.

Things looking up for Banglalink

Banglalink, once the most spirited operator in the market, seems to have gotten a spring back in its step in 2020 after two consecutive quarters of underwhelming performance.

Smartphones to rule in the post-pandemic era

As a matter of course, the coronavirus pandemic is leaving new lessons for all spectra of life and across all sectors. The mobile phone industry is no exception.

Paramount Textile: a textile firm with a conscience

When workers enter Paramount Textile’s plant in Sreepur, Gazipur, they would need to go through a temperature testing procedure using a thermal scanner, wash hands properly and disinfect their shoes.

The question hounding mobile users: how do we top-up amid shutdown?

Mobile phones have long ago become an integral part of people’s life and its utility is being strongly felt every minute as people in Bangladesh have physically been cut off from their neighbourhood and from the rest of the country because of the movement control order put in place to contain the deadly coronavirus.

ICT goes all out to fight COVID-19

The government has put its best foot forward in using ICT tools to figure out the COVID-19 challenges and has already brought on board popular mobile applications and locally-developed solutions to control the damages caused by the pandemic.

Food Aid for The Poor: Smart cards for 1.25cr families

The government is working to develop a database of nearly 1.25 crore beneficiary families to ensure proper distribution of food aid and plug the loopholes in the current distribution system, said officials at two ministries.

Walton ventilators set off for clinical trials today

Bangladesh is inching towards a major breakthrough in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as the Access to Information programme under the government’s ICT division has so far received 19 prototypes of ventilators developed by different organisations and individuals.

Online grocers fail to seize the day during biggest opening yet

With high hopes, on March 19, Washiqur Rahman, a resident of Sobhanbag, had placed an order with Chaldal, the country’s leading online grocery store. Three weeks in, he had failed to secure the delivery despite several back-and-forth with the company.

Carriers divided over spectrum allocation top-up amid surge in demand

The quest for additional spectrum allocation proposal to manage the surge in demand for data during the protracted shutdowns has led to a faction among the four mobile operators.

Grameenphone can’t stop raking in profits

Grameenphone’s net profits soared 25.8 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1,070 crore in the first quarter of the year driven by data revenue and cost-efficient programmes despite operating an increasingly challenging environment.

Inmates can get funds through bKash, Nagad

Prisoners will now receive funds from their friends and family members through mobile financial service providers Nagad and bKash following a government move aimed at facilitating money transfer amid the countrywide lockdown.

Companies move shareholder meetings online amid shutdown

In a first for Bangladesh, listed companies are using virtual platforms to hold annual general meetings as part of their business continuity plans while avoiding mass gatherings and maintain social distancing in the face of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

GP seeks extra spectrum at discounted price

Grameenphone has sought additional spectrum for an interim period to offer better internet services as their network has become busier for a surge in data usage amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Digitalisation comes to bereft farmers’ rescue

The government is set to initiate a short code to help farmers sell their produce if they can’t find buyers locally, much to the relief of growers confronting a broken supply chain.

Nagad to fall in line finally

Nagad, a mobile financial service provider of the Bangladesh Post Office and a private entity, has received an interim licence from the Bangladesh Bank, as part of its push towards digital money amid the pandemic.

Virtual healthcare, once a hard sell, can’t keep up with demand now

Virtual healthcare service has gained traction in Bangladesh in the last few weeks as senior consultants and professors have put their private practice on hold while people are less inclined to visit hospitals and clinics to cut the risk of contracting the deadly coronavirus.

Mobile internet slowest in Bangladesh among 42 countries

Mobile internet speed is slowing down in Bangladesh amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to an international study, which has found download speed in the country is the lowest among 42 markets it has covered.

‘Coronavirus is guiding us towards some sort of innovation’

Local companies have started producing sophisticated medical devices and much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE), a development that comes as a sigh of relief amid the mounting fear of coronavirus epidemic that has so far claimed 34 lives in Bangladesh.

July 31, 2020