Govt nods policy aiming 100pc teledensity by 2021

The government today approved the draft of the national telecommunication policy which has been long pending, with a target of 100 percent teledensity, 65 percent internet with 40 percent broadband penetration in the country by 2021.

Teledensity and internet penetration is the measurement of how many people are connected with telecom and internet connections for every 100 individuals living within an area.

The government also aims to achieve 65 percent internet penetration by 2021 and 90 percent by 2025, according to the policy.

The first telecom policy of the country, formulated in 1998, has become outdated so the government drafted two others in last few years which never came to light.

After getting approval from the cabinet, State Minister for Telecom Tarana Halim said there is a significant vision to provide affordable and universally accessible quality telecommunication services to support the nation's sustainable development goals and to integrate the country with the global knowledge economy.

The telecom division set a target to achieve 90 percent teledensity by 2018 as a short-term goal. It currently stands at 80 percent.

Similarly, the division is working to reach 45 percent internet penetration in the next three years, and 65 percent by 2021, from the current 27 percent. And in the long-term target, the government plans to have 90 percent internet penetration.

There are also plans to improve fixed broadband internet usage to 20 percent from 7 percent in the short term, and boost it to 40 percent by 2021, according to the policy.

In the long-term, the fixed broadband internet target was at 60 percent, which will be achieved by 2025, policy also reads.

The government also aims to ensure wireless broadband connections at the upazila level under short-term target by 2018. In mid-term target government wants to establish fiber optic cable connectivity up to 20 percent by 2021 and by 2025 they want to achieve 50 percent fiber to home connectivity.

After the meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasian, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters and he said the policy has been formulated considering the business cases of next 10 years for the country's booming telecom sector with the slogan 'Telephone for All'.