Use of bandwidth to shoot up by 600% in 7 years

The use of internet bandwidth will shoot up by 600 percent in seven years to 30,000Gbps as people ramp up internet use, said telecom minister Mustafa Jabbar.

"Currently, around 13 crore people are using around 5,000 Gbps internet. 30,000 Gbps internet will be used in the country in 2030. In 2008, the cost of internet per Mbps was Tk 27,000 but now it has been reduced to only Tk 60 under the 'One Country One Rate' initiative," he said.

He was speaking at the opening session of the three-day "24th South Asian Telecommunication Regulators Council (SATRC-24) Meeting" at Le Meridien Dhaka.

Approximately 100 delegates, including the heads of telecommunication and information technology regulatory bodies of nine member countries in South Asia, telecom operators, telecom and information technology experts and officials from public and private organisations will participate.

The council was organised by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) under the supervision of Posts and Telecommunications Division, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

Jabbar said 4G network coverage had reached 98 percent of the country.

"Fiber optics have reached every union. Smart Bangladesh will be developed in 2041 on the strong foundation of digital connectivity," he added.

Abu Hena Morshed Zaman, secretary of the posts and telecommunications division, chairman of BTRC Shyam Sunder Sikder and Secretary General of ATP Masanori Kondo also spoke.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, speaker of the parliament, was present at the inaugural session as chief guest.

Chaudhury said that since its establishment in 1997, SATRC has been playing an important role in various fields, including knowledge exchange among member countries, technological development and implementation of digital infrastructure as well as setting action plans, regulation and development and adoption of policies in the telecommunications sector.

She said Bangladesh has undertaken activities to ensure high-speed broadband connectivity in marginal areas while providing technical training to the youth.

She also expressed hope that the action plan adopted in the three-day conference would contribute to the technological development of the emerging economies of South Asia.

SATRC was established with the combination of telecommunication regulatory bodies of South Asia. This forum sets policies on spectrum coordination, standardisation, regulatory trends, telecommunication development strategies, regional cooperation and international issues in the field of telecommunications.

A total number of nine sessions alongside two roundtable meetings, titled "Regulators' Roundtable: Regulatory Interventions" and "Innovations for Sustainable Digital Future" are scheduled for the three-day long conference. Two dialogues, titled "Regulator-Industry Dialogue: Spectrum for Future" are also scheduled.