Friday April 9, 2021

High Level Virtual Roundtable Recording: Achieving mobile-enabled digital inclusion in Bangladesh

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In this GSMA National Dialogues high level virtual roundtable, panellists examined the findings of the latest report, ‘Achieving mobile-enabled digital inclusion in Bangladesh’ and discussed the barriers to digital inclusion in Bangladesh and the solutions needed to address them.

 

Speakers

Key findings from the report

  • The internet and digital technology have played a key role in helping to drive economic growth and societal development in Bangladesh. Mobile, as the primary means of internet access and the principal form of digital technology use in the country, has been at the forefront of this digital transformation.
    • 170 million mobile connections, serving 90 million unique mobile subscribers – a penetration rate of 54 per cent (December 2020)
    • 102 million mobile internet connections, serving 47.1 million mobile internet subscribers – a penetration rate of 28 per cent (December 2020)
    • 1.6 million cellular IoT connections (December 2020)
    • 32.3 million active mobile financial services accounts and average daily transactions of $2.1 billion (November 2020)
    • $16 billion of economic value from mobile technology and services in 2019, equivalent 5.3 per cent of GDP
    • 4G network coverage reaches around 95 per cent of the population
  • Digital technologies, and mobile in particular, will be crucial to implementing the 2041 Perspective Plan, achieving the SDGs and recovering economically in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Enhancing digital inclusion by increasing the coverage and usage of the mobile internet will be essential to maximising the impact of digital technologies on the government’s development aspirations.

 

What are the barriers to digital inclusion in Bangladesh?

  • Despite the investments of the telecoms sector to expand 4G mobile broadband coverage, which now reaches 95 per cent of the population, 4G is yet to emerge as the dominant form of mobile technology and accounts for only 28 per cent of total mobile connections in Bangladesh.
  • This suggests a lag between 4G coverage rollout and usage of 4G services.
  • This lag in usage is largely explained by issues related to the affordability of devices, low levels of knowledge and digital skills, a perceived lack of relevance, as well as safety and security concerns.
  • High sector-specific taxes, a fragmented licensing regime, as well as issues with the pricing and usage restrictions on spectrum have been identified as barriers to expanding coverage.

 

Recommendations to improve digital inclusion

  • Addressing the barriers to coverage and usage, to achieve digital inclusion, will require concerted government and regulator action to implement policies and regulations that strengthen efforts to increase mobile internet adoption and support infrastructure deployment.
  • Government leadership will also be essential to establish an enabling environment and develop the momentum for greater stakeholder collaboration, including public and private sector consultations on key policies to incentivise innovation and investment in digital inclusion initiatives.

 

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