Purchasing apps, games made convenient
Mobile phone subscribers can now purchase digital services worth up to Tk 600 a month using his/her balance, a development that is expected to give a boost to local app and game developers.
Previously, only Tk 50 per content or per transaction was allowed, which is insufficient to purchase any app from Google's Play Store. The lowest price of any paid app is $0.99, which is equivalent to Tk 85.
So, Bangladeshi app developers were not getting any business from its own market.
Customers can also use the limit to purchase e-tickets and pay utility bills as well.
The move, which will be particularly helpful for those with international credit card, has been hailed by both app developers and mobile operators, as it would boost their data revenue and yield them commission.
"We can now bank on the local market too, which will give us more room to survive," said SM Ashraf Abir, chief executive of Multimedia Content & Communications (MCC), one of the leading mobile app and games development companies.
With the previous limit of Tk 50, customers were unable to purchase any game or app, so the developers were not concentrating on paid apps for the local market.
On paper, the local market should be the main field for budding developers, as it would give them experience to compete in the cutthroat global market, said Abir, also the former director of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.
The app and games market accounts for 10 percent of the Tk 8,000 crore ICT market in Bangladesh.
The telecom regulator will evaluate how the new arrangement is faring after six months and take another call on it.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission had earlier proposed to the central bank to allow Tk 1,000 a month and Tk 6,000 a year, said senior officials who are related with the process.
But the Bangladesh Bank decided on the monthly ceiling of Tk 600 and yearly limit of Th 3,600.
Robi welcomed the move but said the revised regulation does not go far enough to accommodate purchase of quality apps.
"In the backdrop of growing reliance on app service, the regulation is unlikely to tap into the enormous potential of the digital economics, much to the disappointment of the young app developers, who are looking to pursue app development as a career option," said Shahed Alam, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at Robi.
The cap undermines the growth potential of the local app industry, he said, while calling for raising the ceiling to Tk 1,000 a month and Tk 6,000 a year per subscriber.
Industry insiders said the global app and gamming economy will reach $100 billion by 2020.
And China has secured a significant stake of about 21.2 percent, said the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh referring to a research of App Annie, a leading app analytic platform.
As of October, Bangladesh has 9.25 crore active internet connections, of which 8.67 crore are through the mobile phone.