Optical fibre for rural areas

THE government has approved Tk.499 crore for upazila level optical fibre network development project. The project aims to bring optical fibre network to our rural areas taking the technology front one step further.

It is certainly positive news and potentially it could add a lot to other project work which require higher speed Internet connection. A boom in handheld portable devices to perform research utilising our rural resources has already happened through different organisations like Grameen-intel or Brac. The new reach will help the mechanisms in these initiatives as well.

However, we cannot overlook the fact that we do not get sufficient power in all upazilas. And, of course, there are many other bridges to cross before the optical fibre network can actually benefit us, like literacy and education standards, which do not include knowledge in technology for the common person.

One thing to keep in mind will be that the government does not go too ahead without setting up proper infrastructure and resources. We can assure modern technology but if it does not help most people then the project will be just another half-baked plan.