Financial inclusion agenda gets a lift
The central bank’s order to open bank or mobile financial service (MFS) accounts for disbursing the salaries of employees of export-oriented factories from the government’s Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package will give a leg up to the digitalisation and financial inclusion agenda, experts said.
8 April 2020, 18:00 PM
The promising software industry now teetering
Just a few months ago, Skylark Soft, a software development company for technology used in the garment industry, maintained accounts with 50 top factories.
6 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Telcos seek free spectrum
Mobile phone operators have asked the telecom regulator to allocate some spectrum for free for the time being, reasoning that their network had become busier for a surge in data use amid the novel coronavirus-induced ongoing lockdown.
4 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Another global player departs Bangladesh
Japan’s largest mobile firm NTT DoCoMo is set to leave Bangladesh by selling its entire stake in Robi Axiata to Bharti International, raising questions about the country’s telecom policies and regulatory regime.
1 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Homegrown ventilator goes on clinical testing next week
The Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), an engineering university run by the Bangladesh Armed Forces, has designed a ventilator, in the most positive development for the nation panicking from the coronavirus pandemic.
31 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Running out of ventilators is a real possibility. And Walton comes to rescue.
For weeks now, the nation has been obsessed with one set of numbers: how many confirmed cases of coronavirus and how many have died?
30 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Taming coronavirus rampage: Mobile users puzzled by govt SMS to gather health-related info
Mobile operators are receiving a barrage of questions from users after sending them text messages seeking information on their health condition as part of a government plan to draw a digital map to track coronavirus cases and detect potential risk zones.
29 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Govt drawing on big data analytics to contain pandemic
The government has initiated a process to draw a digital map to track coronavirus cases and find out areas susceptible to contamination by using mobile users’ information -- a move that may help portray the real picture of a possible outbreak.
28 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Movement control order making lives tricky for mobile and internet service providers
Mobile operators’ balance recharge has dipped 20 per cent since Thursday as the point-of-sales outlets cannot open for government’s movement control order from March 26 to April 4, which will ultimately push the customers out-of-service over next few days.
28 March 2020, 18:00 PM
BASIS demands Tk 660cr grant, Tk 500cr loan
The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) is demanding a Tk 660-crore grant from the government to tide member companies over through the next six months for the pandemic-induced work orders cancellations and decline in service requests.
26 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Internet traffic surges as people stay home
As the spreading coronavirus has largely paralysed public movement and social life, internet usage has shot up 15 per cent in Bangladesh as people are increasingly relying on digital life for communication, work and entertainment to escape the doom and gloom brought on by the novel virus.
24 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Online grocery delivery pushed to breaking point
Online ventures that run grocery businesses have no time to even take a breather amidst the deluge of orders brought on by the coronavirus pandemic that calls for social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.
22 March 2020, 18:00 PM
BTRC wants to pull the plug on 2G handsets
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is apparently discouraging use and trade of second generation (2G) mobile phones, popularly known as basic or feature phones, as per letters it recently sent to listed handset importers, producers and vendors.
9 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Mobile operators cool down on investment plans
The mobile industry’s combined investment fell 19 per cent year-on-year to Tk 3,695.72 crore in 2019, the lowest in recent years, as the regulatory regime continues to spook the foreign owners of the top three carriers.
8 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Govt learns its lesson on price controls
The government has decided against setting floor or ceiling prices for mobile internet, much to the dismay of a couple of mobile carriers who were pushing for a price bound to make it a level playing field.
7 March 2020, 18:00 PM
BTRC responds to customer complaints after 9 months
Nearly nine months after raising questions and complaints about telecom services ahead of a public hearing, users have finally received responses from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
7 March 2020, 18:00 PM
ISPs await fresh guidelines
The government will soon revise guidelines for internet service providers and bring down licensing categories in a bid to streamline broadband internet business in the country.
4 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Walton sets up Bangladesh’s first lift manufacturing plant
Local electronics giant Walton is set to flag off the country’s first lift manufacturing plant, in a display of Bangladesh’s growing industrial prowess.
29 February 2020, 18:00 PM
Int’l call rate cut yet to benefit expatriate Bangladeshis
Bangladeshis living abroad are still paying higher charges for international incoming voice calls although the government has cut the rate by 65.71 per cent to boost earnings from the sector.
24 February 2020, 18:00 PM
‘Bangladesh is currently where Indonesia and the Philippines were four years ago’
Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Pegasus Tech Ventures plans to invest $40 million in Bangladeshi startups within a few years as the fast expanding economy holds huge growth potential for budding entrepreneurs, said its top executive.
23 February 2020, 18:00 PM