State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak said that the contribution of this sector to national progress is immense. To accelerate the construction of Smart Bangladesh, the potential of the country's telecommunication sector should be fully utilized. There is no alternative but for the Government and the stakeholders in the telecommunication sector to take an effective role in joint initiatives to ensure the sustainable development of the telecommunication sector. The state minister made these remarks while addressing a round table meeting on Telecom Taxation for Smart Bangladesh organized by Telecommunication Reporters Network Bangladesh (TRNB) at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
TRNB President Rashed Mehdi conducted the ceremony BTRC Chairman Engineer Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited Chairman and CEO Dr. Shahjahan Mahmud, MTOB President and Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman, Banglalink Acting CEO Taimur Rahman, Robi Aziatar Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer Mohammad Shahedul Alam, FICCI Executive Director TIM Nurul Kabir, Technology Expert Suman Ahmed Sabbir, Daily Business File Advisor, Lions Club Alhaj Lion Khan Aktaruzzaman MJF, President of Dhaka Capital Garden and Life Member of Bangla Academy and Masuduzzaman Rabin, Secretary of TRNB spoke. Mtob Secretary General Mohammad Zulfikar presented the keynote speech at the event.
State Minister of Telecommunication said that digitization is the life line of Bangladesh's progress. In continuation of this, the telecommunication and information technology sector is an essential aspect of private to state life. In the context of the national budget that will be presented next June, it can be said that according to the government's plan, the tax rate of the ICT sector, expanding the use of smartphones and the Internet, improving the quality of service and making network expansion investment-friendly, deserves to be looked at seriously. I think tax reform in the ICT sector is an essential policy reform that will increase the scope of GDP growth and employment in Bangladesh. Under the far-sighted leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in 1997, the monopoly business of mobile phones was broken by granting licenses to three mobile operators in the country and mobile phones were brought to the common people.
Internet is launched through Visat. As a result, a revolutionary change began in this sector. As a result of Digital Bangladesh program planned by Architect of Digital Bangladesh Sajib Wazed Joy, Bangladesh has not only set an incredible example in the development of digital technology in the past 15 years, but Bangladesh has been established as a role model for development in the world. He said, in 2006, the price of internet per Mbps in the country was 85 thousand taka. We have fixed the price of 1 Mbps internet in the country only at 60 rupees. In 2008, seven and a half Gbps internet was used in the country, and there were seven and a half lakh users. Currently 5 thousand Gbps is being used. 13 crore customers are using it. The state minister mentioned that 45 thousand mobile BTS have been installed in the country and 98 percent of the country's area has come under the 4G network. Pointing out that the rate of Internet usage per capita should be increased in the country, the State Minister said that the more the use of Internet increases, the more impact it will have on national growth. He said, we have to give more importance to the development of the telecommunication sector so that it is not hindered.
The CEO of Grameenphone highlighted the contribution of the telecommunication sector in the collection of national revenue and said that Grameenphone has paid one lakh 15 thousand crores of revenue to the government since its establishment. He emphasized on the need to introduce smart tax system in the development of telecommunication sector and sought the cooperation of the Minister of State for Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology in this regard. He said that compared to neighboring countries, the amount of tax in the telecommunication sector in Bangladesh is high, as a result of which the development of this sector is being hindered.
