Only 6.5pc households connected with internet: ITU

Only 6.5 percent of households in Bangladesh are connected with the internet and the country is at the bottom of the table in South Asia, according to a report of International Telecommunication

Union (ITU).

All South Asian countries, except Nepal, are ahead of Bangladesh in numbers of households connected with the internet, according to the report: the State of Broadband 2015.

Bangladesh ranked 101 among 133 countries and Nepal secured the 109th position with 5.6 percent of its households using the internet.

However, analysts raised questions on the findings of the report.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission does not have the authentic information on internet use actually, which made the ITU report questionable, said Abu Saeed Khan, senior policy fellow at LIRNEasia, a Colombo-based think tank.

As of August, the country has 5.22 crore active internet connections, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission; although the ITU report says only 9.6 percent individuals use the internet.

Of the South Asian countries, the Maldives is on the top position with 44.5 percent households using the internet. Bhutan connected their 26.3 households and ranked 60 globally.

India and Sri Lanka both connected 15.3 percent of their households while Pakistan connected 13.2 percent. The three countries ranked 80, 81 and 83 respectively.

Iceland gained the top position with 98.2 percent people connected with the internet while 98.5 percent households are connected in South Korea as of December 2014.