The number of cell phone users in the country crossed 190 million at the end of November last year, according to the telecom regulator, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Given that the country's population is over 170 million, the cell phone penetration in Bangladesh is perhaps the highest in the world. Though BTRC figure does not say what percentage of the cell phones users owns smartphone, it is not hard to have a guesstimate of it. Just a look at the people walking past any point of a busy footpath in the city can give an idea of the ubiquity of smartphones among the cell phone users. But that should not be surprising since, globally, according to a study, 90 per cent of the cellular phones used are smartphones. Also, currently, 6.5 billion smartphones are in use globally, which is more than 81 per cent of world population at over 8 billion. But the number of smartphone users is still on a rising curve. So, what might be Bangladesh's position regarding smartphone penetration vis-à-vis other nations, for example, the USA, a country with the highest penetration of smartphone at 81.6 per cent? With more than 100 per cent cell phone penetration, who knows, Bangladesh may already have overtaken the USA so far as smartphone use is concerned!
But how far is this widespread use of cellular phone beneficial to its users? When it comes to communication per se, it has made people to people contact faster and cheaper. No doubt, this new communications technology has contributed immensely to social and economic advancement. And the addition of more advanced digital technology like digital camera and various application software or App to the Smartphone has made the communications device further gratifying to its user. But the question is how far the Bangladeshi users of this wonderful communications device are able to make optimum use of it. A recent study done by the global telecom company, Telenor, which owns 55.8 per cent share of Grameenphone, found that 97 per cent of the mobile internet users are concerned about their privacy and security. The issue is too obvious to need any explanation. To be frank, the huge popularity of cell phone, or smartphone to be specific, is regrettably for the wrong reason. Small wonder that it is often used to snoop on other's privacy, create malicious video contents to blackmail or for character assassination of one's rival or various other criminal purposes. The crimes are committed through various kinds of apps, spyware and the social media platforms. And to do such criminal acts, knowledge of a very small number of operations is enough. But if the users had an inkling of what a wealth of useful apps and other information the device contains, they could change their lives by using that knowledge productively.
Unfortunately, of the close to 200 million owners of the cell phones in Bangladesh, as informed by the BTRC, very few are digitally literate enough to make productive use of smartphones.
As Telenor's study report further informs, of the respondents in eight countries of South and Southeast Asia that the survey covered, Bangladeshis expressed their highest concern about their failure to keep pace with the rapidly changing cellular phone technology. Actually, 97 per cent of them feared that their digital skills may not be enough to make the most of the new features of the technology to be added to the smartphones in the coming years.
Such awareness among cellular phone users calls for taking steps by telecom operators and others concerned to educate the users to use their phones more productively.
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