Yasir Azman The country's vision of 'Smart Bangladesh' will not be attained if the people of the country do not use smart handsets to access smart or digital services, said Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of Grameenphone (GP).
"And to make available and affordable smart devices for the masses, the government, mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and financial institutions must come up with solutions," he said.
The CEO of the country’s largest mobile operator made the comments while talking to reporters after obtaining a unified license from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) recently.
He said, "When we say Smart Bangladesh, Smart Society, Smart Economy, Smart Citizen, Smart Governance -- these are very encouraging visions, but the availability of devices and the internet for people to be smart is indissolubly linked with this."
As only 50 per cent of the mobile subscribers in Bangladesh use smartphones, he said, these numbers have to be significantly increased to make digital services under the government vision available for all.
"If we can't take the digital lifestyle, technology usage, and facilities of Dhaka to remote areas in the country, inequality and differences in society will increase further," he added.
"Those who are enjoying the privileges will achieve further progress and those who are lagging behind will fall further back, widening gaps in society."
The Grameenphone CEO said the government has already digitalised many public services, but if awareness and smartphone availability are not there, people can't utilize the facilities.
It is crucial for Bangladesh to devise strategies to overcome this stagnation and boost smartphone penetration, he suggested.
"So the government must think now of a way out -- how to use tax measures and help financially grow local entrepreneurs so there is a situation where manufacturing basic phones is discouraged and smartphones are encouraged," he said.
Yasir Azman said there is a unique situation in Bangladesh, where handset manufacturers don't know the insight of the market as the market is extensively prepaid and operators don't sell handsets; in contrast, globally mobile operators provide handsets mostly in the postpaid market.
"So I propose that mobile financial services (MFS), banks, mobile operators, and handset manufacturers could come up with a solution for this and offer affordable smartphones for customers either in installments or any other mechanism that makes the price affordable," he said.
To make this happen, regulatory hindrances also should be removed, he pointed out.
Talking about the unified license, Mr Azman said the regulator and operators have been working for three years for a unified license.
"Following this, regulatory compliance has become simplified, and operational difficulties and complexities have reduced significantly," he said.
On March 11, BTRC awarded Grameenphone, Robi, and Teletalk unified licenses. These licenses combined previous ones for 2G, 3G, and 4G services while incorporating provisions for 5G and future services.
"Now, our focus is on implementation to ensure our customers benefit. Additionally, collaboration between operators and regulators becomes more constructive, fruitful, and forward-thinking," he said.
Under the unified license, he said, they now can provide 14 services including IoT, AI, Cloud, Cyber Security, Analytics while the number of services was nine previously.
"Without these services, we can't imagine a smart Bangladesh," he said.
The GP CEO said full utilisation of 4G is important for now; and the market is ready for 5G.
Mr Azman said 5G technology holds immense potential for applications in large-scale manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, and automation in ports and airports in Bangladesh.
"If people get smartphones and once devices are in place, connectivity, including 5G, will come to people automatically," he said.
Delayed 5G will not be a problem as technology adoption is much faster in Bangladesh, he said, adding: "Smartphone usage and data stagnancy should be our focus now."
Mr Azman emphasized the importance of adopting global best practices in 5G implementation.
He also said full fiberization should be there before the full rollout of 5G.
He urged the government to allow them to install fiber rather than segmenting the licenses.
He said Grameenphone must first complete its ongoing efforts in fiberization and modernisation of network equipment. "We should be allowed to compete and competition brings innovation."
He said there should not be too much regulation, and prices should not be regulated.
Listed on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, Grameenphone is the largest mobile telecommunications operator in Bangladesh in terms of revenue, coverage, and subscriber base with 82.3 million, or 43.16 per cent, of the market share.
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