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Internet users jump by 29.0pc

FE Report | March 19, 2018 00:00:00


Some 49 per cent of country's total population are now under the network of internet on the back of the growing use of digital platforms in the country.

The disclosure came in a new Global Digital Report prepared by 'We Are Social and Hootsuite', a social media management platform.

The number of internet users in Bangladesh jumped 29.0 per cent within a year, according to the report.

It showed that the total number of internet users stood at 81.66 million by the end of 2017.

More than 90 per cent of the Bangladeshi internet users are using internet through mobile phone devices.

The report mentioned that the number of internet users through the mobile phone devices stood at 76.22 million.

It also showed that the total number of mobile phone connections stood at 137.2 million by the end of the past year. As a result, some 83 per cent of Bangladeshi people now own mobile phones.

The Global Digital in 2018 is basically a suite of reports that also revealed that that there are now more than 4.0 billion people around the world using the internet.

"Well over half of the world's population is now online, with the latest data showing that nearly a quarter of a billion new users came online for the first time in 2017," it added.

"Much of this year's growth in internet users has been driven by more affordable smartphones and mobile data plans," said the report. "More than 200 million people got their first mobile device in 2017, and two-thirds of the world's 7.6 billion inhabitants now have a mobile phone," it mentioned.

"The growth is very natural and it will be much higher in the near future," said a source of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh. "A lot of digital services are available now. The increasing number of such services will boost internet use."

He said people now use internet for commercial purposes and even use ride-sharing services. Many government services can now be accessed through digital channels that are boosting internet use.

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