97.9pc households have mobile phones: BBS

Smartphone pushes computer use down

FE Team | Published: July 18, 2023 00:00:15

The proportion of households with mobile phone in the country is now 97.9 per cent while the proportion of households with smartphones in the country is 63.3 per cent, reports BSS.
Besides, the proportion of households with internet is now 8.6 per cent, with computer is 8.9 per cent, with electricity is 99.1 per cent, with a television is 62.2 per cent while with a radio is 14.9 per cent.
These were revealed at the publication ceremony of the final report on the "ICT Use Survey" held at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics(BBS).
Planning Minister MA Mannan spoke at the function as the chief guest while Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr Shahnaz Arefin, ICT Division Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin spoke as special guests presided over by director general of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Md Matiar Rahman.
Project Director Syeda Marufa Shaki made a power-point presentation on the findings of the survey.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, the Planning Minister citing the survey findings said that the use of computers in the country has declined over the years after the gradual dominance of the smartphones.
He also noted that such survey findings would help the policy makers to frame better strategies and planning.
ICT Division Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin said that the use of ICT has now increased up to the rural level while the use of mobile phones and smart phones has also increased over the years. Besides, he noted that the number of internet users has also increased from time to time.
Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr Shahnaz Arefin said that from the BBS, they are trying hard to conduct the surveys and thus publish their findings within the timeframe.
Saying that the BBS never release biased data, Shahnaz said that their efforts to deliver accurate data in a timely manner would continue in the future also.
Project Director Syeda Marufa Shaki informed that the data collection for the survey continued from May 29, 2022 till August 28, 2022 from some 30,816 sample households.
The survey findings showed that the highest 78.5 per cent proportion of households in Chattogram Division use smartphones followed by 75.3 per cent in Dhaka Division, 61.9 per cent in Khulna Division, 58.1 per cent in Sylhet Division, 55 per cent in Mymensingh Division, 50.6 per cent in Rajshahi Division, 50 per cent in Barishal Division and 40.7 per cent in Rangpur Division.
If the proportion of households with internet access is analyzed, it was found that the Dhaka Division has the highest 59 per cent proportion of households with internet followed by 51.5 per cent in Chattogram Division, 40.8 per cent in Sylhet Division, 38.5 per cent in Mymensingh Division, 34.3 per cent in Rajshahi Division, 33.2 per cent in Khulna Division, 27.3 per cent in Barishal Division and 27.3 per cent in Rangpur Division.
While considering the location of using Internet by the individuals, it was found that some 76.4 per cent people use Internet at home, 30.4 per cent at another person's home, 28.3 per cent at work where a person's workplace is located, 19.4 per cent at the place of education, 13.9 per cent people at facility open to the public, 4.4 per cent at Internet cafe, and 2.5 per cent in other places.