Call for making digital devices affordable

Prime Minister’s ICT and Telecommunications Adviser Rehan Asif Asad has stressed the need to make affordable digital devices readily available to the general public, alongside reducing spectrum prices, to boost digital inclusion in the country.

He said more than half of the country’s population still uses feature phones. To bring them into the digital economy, work is underway at the ministry level to introduce smartphones priced within Tk 5,000 and provide instalment facilities.

There is also scope to reduce device prices by lowering taxes, duties and VAT, partnering with industry entrepreneurs, and bundling devices with voice and data services, he said.

The adviser further said around 50 percent of the country’s population still uses 2G phones, or button phones.
“We cannot bring these 50 percent of the 14 crore mobile phone users onto smartphones overnight. We will bring 7 crore people under data networks within the next six to 12 months,” he said.

He said a large number of people could be brought into the digital ecosystem if low-cost smartphones and easy instalment facilities are ensured. This, he added, could bring fundamental changes to the country’s economy and society.