Mobile broadband coverage in the country has reached 98.5 per cent at the end of 2021, says Mustafa Jabbar, minister of Posts and Telecommunications Division of Bangladesh.
He also said the user base had expanded to 180 million now from 40 million in 2018.
The minister said this on Thursday while delivering the keynote speech on ‘Bangladesh National Digital Strategy and Practices’ at Huawei APAC (Asia Pacific) Digital Innovation Congress 2022 in Singapore.
The two-day APAC Digital Innovation Congress started from Thursday, said a pres release.
It sheds light on what lies ahead in the digital realm for the economies around the world.
In his keynote, Mustafa Jabbar said Bangladesh’s communications industry had grown rapidly since the Digital Bangladesh Strategy was announced in 2008.
“The Internet has drastically changed the lives of the people of Bangladesh. The time-befitting and prudent leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the support from all stakeholders in this sector have helped Bangladesh to effectively carry on education, healthcare, and economic activities during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
The minister mentioned the United Nations Broadband Commission’s publication in 2021, where they published about Bangladesh’s telecom sector’s achievements regarding attaining SDG 5B (1), 9C (1), and 17.8(1).
Dato’ Sri Dr Adham bin Baba, minister of science, technology and innovation, Malaysia; Ken Hu, rotating chairman, Huawei; Dr Yang Mee Eng, executive director, ASEAN Foundation; Ajarin Pattanapanchai, permanent secretary, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Thailand; Simon Lin, president, Huawei Asia Pacific Region, and others have spoke at the congress.
Besides, Shyam Sunder Sikder, chairman of the BTRC, attended the conference.
Mustafa Jabbar also joined Huawei’s Intelligent Campus session.