South Asian Business news and information

A two day long workshop titled “WiMAX Bangladesh : Now &  Future Workshop” started today in Dhaka. Bangladesh still does not have WiMax facility. Thanks to BTRC, within 2008, Bangladeshi people will enjoy the benefits of WiMax.  

The workshop is jointly organized by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and 6 leading technology companies in the WiMax sector. Brigadier General (retd) M.A. Malek, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, inaugurated the workshop. Brigadier General (retd) M.A. Malek stated that WiMax could open new window of opportunity for the technology sector in Bangladesh. He admired the role of BTRC in developing the telecom and IT sector in Bangladesh. He also said that WiMax will help the people in the grassroots level.

Chairman of BTRC Major General Manzurul Alam (retired) welcomed everyone and stated that WiMax would work as a positive technology in upbringing the life standard of rural people in Bangladesh. He also said that 80% people in Bangladesh lived in rural areas. So, if they can get access to fast Internet then it will help them in many ways.

Here, I like to remind the readers that since Major General Manzurul Alam (retired) has been at the helm of BTRC, a number of positive steps have been taken by BTRC. BTRC was instrumental in making VOIP legal in Bangladesh and very soon, Bangladeshi people will get the blessing of this technology. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Public Hearing on Licensing for Call Center and BTRC was behind that too. Today, I was happy to find that BTRC is focusing on taking WiMax to the rural people. I think it is one of the few attempts in Bangladesh to take technology to the poor people. Most people living in the rural areas in the country are always neglected when it comes to modern technology.

 
Prof. Dr. M. Zafar Iqbal of Shahjajal University of Science and Technology talked about different aspects of WiMax technology. He called upon the government to take proper steps so that the rural people get the benefits of WiMax technology. He also called on BTRC to be on alert so that no company can have monopoly over WiMax technology in Bangladesh. Dr. Iqbal also talked about the benefits of this technology and viewed that after the people get access to Wimax then they can better facilities in health, education and business.

In the afternoon, “Meet the Press” event took place and the representatives of 6 vendors (panelists) talked to the journalists. They are:

Sabbir Ahmed Khan, President Motorola Telecommunications Bangladesh Pvt. Ltd

Khor Yew Shin, Director to CDMA & WIMAX Tech. Sales Dept. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Vasu Venkatakrishnan, Systems Engineer Cisco Systems

Khalid Khan, Country head NSN-Bangladesh

Iftikhar Jami, President & CEO Bangladesh, Alcatel Lucent

 Zia Manzur, Country Business Manager, Intel EM Ltd. Dhaka Liaison Office, Bangladesh

I was present there for SouthAsiaBiz at the Meet the Press Event. The panelists informed us that WiMax had a very bright prospect in Bangladesh and it would help to transform the economy of the country. They said that WiMax was a powerful tool for development and Bangladesh needed to make the best use of it. There was some concern that WiMax might be an expensive technology for Bangladesh. The panelists replied that there was worldwide effort to reduce the cost of WiMax and this would happen within a short time.

I am happy that Bangladesh is going to enter in to the WiMax age. It will ensure high speed wireless broadband internet for all the people. The people living in the rural areas really need the blessing of this kind of technology. I also wish that WiMax becomes popular in Dhaka too.