A leading chamber yesterday suggested the government should refrain from selling the excess bandwidth to any foreign company, distribute the same among the primary schools and thereby facilitate their students' e-learning.
If the government has any excess bandwidth, it should be used for the country's interest first, then only the question of selling it to any foreign company should arise, said Asif Ibrahim, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), at a press briefing yesterday.
“Our primary school students are yet to be computer literate. The government should create facilities for their IT learning at school through allocating excess bandwidth in their favour," Ibrahim said.
Sales of excess bandwidth to any foreign company will not be right, because the future nation builders should learn the IT from primary schools, he said. The government is planning to sell excess bandwidth to a foreign company, he added. "More than 60 percent of the total bandwidth remained unutilised until now.”
The DCCI briefed journalists on the outcome of a recently held daylong seminar on "Digital Bangladesh: Connectivity and the Growth of economy".
On the basis of the seminar, the DCCI put forward a set of 26 point recommendations to the government for development of the IT and telecom sector, a major tool for future development of the country.
In the recommendations, the DCCI urged the government for strengthening the cooperation among the IT and telecom, education and science and technology ministries for better results.
Organisations like Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore and National Institute of Smart Government (NISG) can be planned for shaping and planning several public-private partnership projects to exploit the full potentials of the IT, he said.
Among the major recommendations, the government should reform the education system in order to create tech-savvy generations. High tech park, software technology park, ICT incubator park and computer villages may be set up at every suitable location of Bangladesh.
The government should remove barriers to help the economically potential call centres flourish in every possible manner, he recommended adding that the government should introduce e-transaction system at all levels of transaction.
"We need a second fibre optic connection immediately; otherwise the reliability and confidence will not be in place. Finalising the guideline for submarine and terrestrial cable where the private sector will be recognised as stakeholders is an urgent need. The tendering process should be made rational and as simple as possible to facilitate and ensure the access of the private sector," Ibrahim said.
The government should modify the draft guideline for renewal of the 2nd generation (2G) licence following the best standard practices, he said.
"All renewal fees of mobile operators should be refixed in such a way so that the operators are encouraged," he added.
In this connection, he said, the government should also promote the state-owned Teletalk Company for rendering better services to the customers.
The government is working on a massive expansion of the teletalk network expansion within next two years, said Khairul Majid Mahmud, a director of DCCI.
News Source:
The Daily Star