Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The government’s move to provide cash assistance to 50 lakh poor families hit by the coronavirus pandemic is finally taking off, with the four major mobile financial service providers set to deliver it from May 14.

Mobile carriers are bracing for a price war and this time it is centring on the coronavirus pandemic as they are offering free voice call minutes and bonus data packs through publicity gimmicks that are being overlooked by the regulator on humanitarian grounds.

Banglalink, once the most spirited operator in the market, seems to have gotten a spring back in its step in 2020 after two consecutive quarters of underwhelming performance.

As a matter of course, the coronavirus pandemic is leaving new lessons for all spectra of life and across all sectors. The mobile phone industry is no exception.

When workers enter Paramount Textile’s plant in Sreepur, Gazipur, they would need to go through a temperature testing procedure using a thermal scanner, wash hands properly and disinfect their shoes.

Mobile phones have long ago become an integral part of people’s life and its utility is being strongly felt every minute as people in Bangladesh have physically been cut off from their neighbourhood and from the rest of the country because of the movement control order put in place to contain the deadly coronavirus.

The government has put its best foot forward in using ICT tools to figure out the COVID-19 challenges and has already brought on board popular mobile applications and locally-developed solutions to control the damages caused by the pandemic.

Bangladesh is inching towards a major breakthrough in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as the Access to Information programme under the government’s ICT division has so far received 19 prototypes of ventilators developed by different organisations and individuals.

The government is working to develop a database of nearly 1.25 crore beneficiary families to ensure proper distribution of food aid and plug the loopholes in the current distribution system, said officials at two ministries.

With high hopes, on March 19, Washiqur Rahman, a resident of Sobhanbag, had placed an order with Chaldal, the country’s leading online grocery store. Three weeks in, he had failed to secure the delivery despite several back-and-forth with the company.

The quest for additional spectrum allocation proposal to manage the surge in demand for data during the protracted shutdowns has led to a faction among the four mobile operators.

Prisoners will now receive funds from their friends and family members through mobile financial service providers Nagad and bKash following a government move aimed at facilitating money transfer amid the countrywide lockdown.

Grameenphone’s net profits soared 25.8 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1,070 crore in the first quarter of the year driven by data revenue and cost-efficient programmes despite operating an increasingly challenging environment.

Grameenphone has sought additional spectrum for an interim period to offer better internet services as their network has become busier for a surge in data usage amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

In a first for Bangladesh, listed companies are using virtual platforms to hold annual general meetings as part of their business continuity plans while avoiding mass gatherings and maintain social distancing in the face of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The government is set to initiate a short code to help farmers sell their produce if they can’t find buyers locally, much to the relief of growers confronting a broken supply chain.

Nagad, a mobile financial service provider of the Bangladesh Post Office and a private entity, has received an interim licence from the Bangladesh Bank, as part of its push towards digital money amid the pandemic.

Virtual healthcare service has gained traction in Bangladesh in the last few weeks as senior consultants and professors have put their private practice on hold while people are less inclined to visit hospitals and clinics to cut the risk of contracting the deadly coronavirus.

Mobile internet speed is slowing down in Bangladesh amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to an international study, which has found download speed in the country is the lowest among 42 markets it has covered.

Local companies have started producing sophisticated medical devices and much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE), a development that comes as a sigh of relief amid the mounting fear of coronavirus epidemic that has so far claimed 34 lives in Bangladesh.