Boom time for mobile Internet connection
Friday, 29 January 2010
Shimul Biswas
Last year I learnt about CellBazaar (www.cellbazaar.com). It's described as a 'market in your pocket' and in fact it's so fantastic that I'm going to devote this whole article to it.. I really liked CellBazaar when I first saw it because while it worked with laptops and internet connections, it also worked on a really basic mobile phone.
The latest data I've seen reports internet penetration in Bangladesh to be 4% - the lowest in the world! I was devastated when I first learnt this because it seemed to be just another statistic putting Bangladesh at the bottom of the hopeless pile. But something is definitely changing and this is where my prediction comes from.
I was standing in the Grameenphone customer centre the other day and to the right of me was a very ordinary woman with a mid range phone upgrading her sim to one with internet connection. And to the left of me was a middle class man with rather a snazzy phone discussing his P2 (internet enabled) connection. And when the woman on the right had finished another very ordinary man took her place and purchased a new sim so that he would have internet connectivity. Within just 30 minutes in the customer centre, I had seen many transactions and discussions all involving internet connections and none discussing phone issues.
I loved CellBazaar when I first saw it because it used simple mobile phone technology to get information to people and I was under the impression that the internet was neither important to nor needed by the masses in Bangladesh. Sometimes, though, I am just so wrong! How could I make such an assumption when I spend so much of my time connected to the ether and find it so useful and interesting and relevant? How could I assume that others wouldn't as well?
Clearly the Internet holds huge opportunity at all levels of society in Bangladesh and the major mobile phone companies are bringing it at a price that is making connection a possibility for the masses. Not to mention the new WiMax providers who are likely to increase competition yet more.
So my prediction for 2010 is that mobile internet connection in Bangladesh is going to explode and the opportunities that will bring are endless - certainly we are likely to see economic growth from this path.
Last year I learnt about CellBazaar (www.cellbazaar.com). It's described as a 'market in your pocket' and in fact it's so fantastic that I'm going to devote this whole article to it.. I really liked CellBazaar when I first saw it because while it worked with laptops and internet connections, it also worked on a really basic mobile phone.
The latest data I've seen reports internet penetration in Bangladesh to be 4% - the lowest in the world! I was devastated when I first learnt this because it seemed to be just another statistic putting Bangladesh at the bottom of the hopeless pile. But something is definitely changing and this is where my prediction comes from.
I was standing in the Grameenphone customer centre the other day and to the right of me was a very ordinary woman with a mid range phone upgrading her sim to one with internet connection. And to the left of me was a middle class man with rather a snazzy phone discussing his P2 (internet enabled) connection. And when the woman on the right had finished another very ordinary man took her place and purchased a new sim so that he would have internet connectivity. Within just 30 minutes in the customer centre, I had seen many transactions and discussions all involving internet connections and none discussing phone issues.
I loved CellBazaar when I first saw it because it used simple mobile phone technology to get information to people and I was under the impression that the internet was neither important to nor needed by the masses in Bangladesh. Sometimes, though, I am just so wrong! How could I make such an assumption when I spend so much of my time connected to the ether and find it so useful and interesting and relevant? How could I assume that others wouldn't as well?
Clearly the Internet holds huge opportunity at all levels of society in Bangladesh and the major mobile phone companies are bringing it at a price that is making connection a possibility for the masses. Not to mention the new WiMax providers who are likely to increase competition yet more.
So my prediction for 2010 is that mobile internet connection in Bangladesh is going to explode and the opportunities that will bring are endless - certainly we are likely to see economic growth from this path.