Internet is probably the second largest service in terms of technology after the Telecom sector. Its wide variety of usage has enabled the internet users to communicate and share information vastly. The usage and users of Internet are growing in a very rapid exponential rate. Internet is infact the biggest network of computers and many other devices. So there must be a medium through which information/data is exchanged between these devices. For Bangladesh, the medium had been only the satellite communication, connecting a gateway might be at Hongkong, Singapore or somewhere else. The thing can be symbolically represent with the Water System. What I meant is that, the thing was like – You’ve to depend upon your neighbor who has the direct water connection, and you get your water from him, and as a container you use your bucket to transfer water to your home. Now think of how inefficient a system it used to be. Internet on the other hand is a two way dependencies, which is unlike the one way water system, where receiving is the only goal. Satellite communication is a slower yet a very costly mean of connectivity. However people in Bangladesh thought they are going to overcome the problem by getting connected to the long waiting SEA-ME-WE-4 optical fiber backbone. People thought that Internet availability will be at their fingertips, Robust speed will enable them to transfer information faster and in large volume. It has been about one and half year since Bangladesh got connected to SEA-ME-WE-4, but the question is how it has fulfilled the ever growing demand of bandwidth!!! Another question is , how efficiently has been the max capacity been used so far? I know there is nobody to answer my question, but it is not a negligible issue and we just can’t keep experimenting on this as the lifespan of this connectivity is about 15 years only!!! As far as I know the total bandwidth will be distributed between data communication and telecommunication. We can see some uplifting in the telecom sector after banning the illegal VOIP and also declaring the road map for the future of VOIP. But what about the other use of this bandwidth? Infact what should be the other use? Just availing the bandwidth to surf the internet? The answer is simply -“NO”… I can still remember what our respected Awal sir (MAA) used to say. To prove yourself worthy enough in the ICT serctor, you just simply have to have a PC and a good connectivity to the information highway. These are the basic component you require. However the ICT sector in total also requires same infrastructure but surely in a broader context. How effectively has the ICT sector been able to use this connectivity? I know the answer is definitely “Not Satisfactory”. Our neighboring country India has gone far ahead in ICT sector. If Bangladesh could have 10% of India’s ICT market, it would be ten times as big a market as the current garment/knit sector of Bangladesh. To emerge as an ICT enabled nation, Bangladesh is supposed to ensure the maximum use of this connectivity , which has been completely wasted so far. Special offers should be introduced to ICT/Software/Call Center type of services so that more and more entrepreneurs are interested to grab the opportunity and thus ensuring creation of more employment. There is no lack of talents in Bangladesh, the lack is only in planning and implementation of plans. Let’s not forget the home level users in this process, Because I fall in that category 😉 …
In my next writing, I’ll write about the internet connectivity types and pricing (in Bangladesh)…
Thanks.