Teletech 2014

Volume XXIII May 2014
WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION AND

INFORMATION SOCIETY DAY
17 MAY 2014
INFORMATION SOCIETY DAY
17 MAY 2014
Bangladesh Civil Service (Telecom) Samity
on the Occasion of
INFORMATION SOCIETY DAY 2014 02
M A Y 2 0 1 4
CONTENTS
Cover Designed by:
Md. Aminul Hassan
Published by:
Publication Committee
World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day 2014
Asaduzzaman Chowdhury
Md. Manjur Ahmed
Md. Shahjahan
Sanjib Kumar Ghatak
Abdullah Al Mahmud Faruk
Nasimul Haque Mojumdar
Mirza Kamal Ahmed
Mohd. Shahadat Hossain
Anwar Hossain Masud
Md. Shariful Islam
Vishwajit Roy
Khaled Hossain
Mamun Monzurul Aziz
Md. Taherul Islam
Md. Badruzzaman
Opinion expressed by the individual
authors in their articles are not
necessarily those of the BCS
(Telecom) Samitys opinion unless
explicitly stated
Design & Printed by
Printcraft Co. Ltd.
50/4, West Hazipara
Rampura, Dhaka- 1219
Tel: 9342954, 9342959
Email: printcraft@ascent-bd.com
A. Messages
B. Ariticles
1. Joining Bangladesh with the Second Submarine
Cable (SEA-ME-WE-5)
Md. Monwar Hossain
Parvez M. Ashraf 17
2. Demystifying Broadband Perceptions
A. K. M. Habibur Rahman 23
3. Focus on broadband speed and its significance on
development sustainability
Mamun Monzurul Aziz 29
4. Mobile Broadband by 4G:
Technology, Present Status in the World
and Prospect in Bangladesh
Sayeed Mahmud 37
5. Green ICT: A Dynamic Measure for
Environmental Sustainability
Rownak Tahmina 43
6. Technology Assessment (TA):
Importance, Surroundings, Process,
and the Application Perspective in Bangladesh
A.K.M. Golam Baharul 52
7. Empowering Farmers Through Connecting to Market
Through ICT in Bangladesh
Mohammad Taherul Islam 56
8. Some Facts on Freelancing
Khan Mohummad Kaisar
Md. Amirul Islam 62
9. A tale of 3G in Bangladesh and the role of Teletalk
Engr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 65
10. ESSAY FROM ONLINE COMPETITION 68
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Broadband for Sustainable Development
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2014 marks the 149th anniversary of the establishment of
ITU in 1865. The remarkable history of ITU exemplifies its stellar role in connecting the world to the most advanced
and innovative means of communication, from the days of the telegraph to the Internet and mobile broadband
which now allows us to be in touch anytime, anywhere with friends, family, colleagues and even things.
The right to communication is central to the information society; it is a key principle for equitable and universal
access to information and knowledge that in turn empowers people to meet their aspirations and achieve their
development goals.
Broadband connectivity is a critical element today in ensuring that information and communication technologies
are used as effective delivery vehicles for health, education, governance, trade and commerce in order to
achieve sustainable socio-economic growth.
ITU is therefore committed to achieving universal access to broadband connectivity and to foster the political will
needed to achieve this objective.
This year, on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, we focus on the theme: "Broadband for
Sustainable Development".
It is now well recognized that digital development is a transformative tool to fast-track sustainable development. In
order to realize its full potential, it is essential to roll-out high-speed broadband networks, making it affordable as
well as universally accessible.
In this respect, ITU and the Broadband Commission for Digital Development are at the forefront of advocating the
roll-out of broadband as a means of achieving sustainable development. This was further underlined by the World
Telecommunication Development Conference this year to focus on the theme "Broadband for Sustainable
Development".
ITU's thrust to push the broadband agenda for sustainable development focuses on the dual goals of supporting
the deployment of mobile broadband and the continued rollout of fixed-line technologies along with a thrust on
meeting the global challenges of our times, such as combating climate change. Broadband-based ICT networks
are powerful cross-cutting enablers to achieve the three pillars of sustainable development economic growth,
social inclusion and environmental balance.
I call upon our partners governments, industry, academia and technical experts to identify key gaps in
broadband research and development, infrastructure, and packaged development of applications and services;
define policy priorities for action in the areas of allocating radio frequency spectrum for broadband, universal
access obligations and innovative financing mechanisms; and to seek leading edge technological solutions,
particularly in the extension of broadband access into rural areas, least developed countries and small island
developing states.
Let us put our resources together to harness the catalytic role of ICTs in achieving sustainable development. It is the
key to ensuring a better future for all.
Dr Hamadoun I. Tour
ITU Secretary-General

Secretary-General
ITU
Message
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It is a matter of great pleasure that Bangladesh is observing the World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day on 17th May with due importance. This year on World Telecommunication
and Information Society Day, ITU focus on the theme: Broadband for Sustainable Development
an updated natural phenomenon.
It is now well recognized that digital development is a transformative tool to fast-track sustainable
development. In order to realize its full potential, it is essential to roll-out high speed broadband
networks, making it affordable as well as universally accessible.
Vision of the government is to build a Digital Bangladesh by 2021. So, broadband is the most vital
tool for the country in coming days. Therefore, an affordable and reliable national
telecommunication backbone network is the primary need for information based society. The
government of Bangladesh has marked telecommunication as the thrust sector and adopted the
ICT policy under which multifaceted approaches are being made to spread up ICT activities to all
districts and upozillas, facilitating broadband internet connection. Recently bandwidth charges
have been reduced to half. BTCL is working hard both with the ongoing projects and upcoming
projects in order to achieve the target of vision 2021. Under the dynamic leadership of the
Honorable Prime Minister of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh and innovative technical advice
and support of the Advisor of the Honorable Prime Minister on ICT, BTCL had already broaden its
Internet service to 108 Unions with an ultimate target to provide access to this internet service to all
the Unions of the country within next year. This internet service is providing its broadband facilities
to the millions of inhabitants of the Unions enabling them enriching their skills and thereby
knowledge enhanced as well as receiving and sending their required information as where and
when required, free of charge.
On the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, I express my thanks to
Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry for taking all out initiatives to observe
the day. Also many thanks for BCS (Telecom) Association for arranging publication of the Teletech
Journal. I wish World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2014 every success.
Managing Director
Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
Message
Mahfuz Uddin Ahmad
Every year on 17th May, the International Telecommunication Union celebrates World
Telecommunication and Information Society Day from its founding in Paris since 1865. This year
Bangladesh along with other member countries of ITU is observing the day with the theme
Broadband for Sustainable development.
On the occasion of World Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2014, Ministry of Post,
Telecommunications and Information Technology along with its relevant organizations like
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Bangladesh Telecommunications
Company Ltd. (BTCL), Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd. (BSCCL), Teletalk and different
private telecommunications operators and associations have taken various initiatives to observe
the day through inauguration ceremony, seminar, TV and Radio talk, publication of supplement in
the National Dailies, Road show, on-line essay competition, cultural program etc. Members of BCS
(Telecom) Samity are participating actively with these initiatives to make these successful.
The purpose of World Telecommunication and information Society Day is to help raising
awareness towards the use of the Internet and others Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) which can bring prosperity to societies and economies as well as ways to
bridge the digital divide. The theme for WTISD-2014, Broadband for Sustainable Development
will focus attention on multi-stakeholders commitment to achieve universal access to
broadband and contents and foster political will to achieve this object, identify key gaps in
broadband research and development, infrastructure and development of applications and
services, define policy priorities for action in the areas of allocating radio frequency spectrum for
broadband, universal access obligations.
It is may pleasure that Bangladesh Civil Service (Telecom) Samity has taken initiative to publish a
special issue of its technical magazine TELETECH on this occasion of World Telecommunication
and Information Society Day 2014 to make the celebration colorful and effective. I wish best
success of the day.
I congratulate all the members of Bangladesh Civil Service (Telecom) Samity for publishing a
special issue of its technical journal Teletech as a part of observance of this day. I wish them
all success.
Message
Mohammad Taufique
President
BCS (Telecom) Samity
Like other years, BCS (Telecom) Samity is going to celebrate the World Telecommunication Day on
17 May, 2014. The 17 May marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph
Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union. But one thing is
inseparably connected with this Day and that is Teletech, a special issue of its journal. Teletech,
by its virtue, has been recognized to all telecom related people in Bangladesh. The journal carries
a number of articles on matters of wide range of new and emerging services, fast developing
technologies, various modes of information transfer as well as organizational matters of telecom
sector development. The significance and pertinent point on the theme of the Day, selected for
this year, is duly highlighted.
The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise
awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital
divide. The theme for WTISD-2014, Broadband for Sustainable Development is truly justified and
timely. Broadband connectivity is a critical element today in ensuring that information and
communication technologies are used as effective delivery vehicles for health, education,
governance, trade and commerce in order to achieve sustainable socio-economic growth.
Bangladesh Civil Service (Telecom) Samity is a welfare association of BCS (Telecom) Cadre Engineers.
The Samity always works for the well being of members. BCS (Telecom) Samity from its very beginning
is trying to enhance the fellow feelings and brotherhood relationship among the members.
BCS (Telecom) Samity is very much concerned to protect the right of its members so that they can
work peacefully to strengthen the telecom sector. In 2008, the erstwhile BTTB has been converted
to BTCL, a public limited company. Government also decided to form a Department of
Telecommunication (DoT) to accommodate the BCS (Telecom) Cadre along with employees
intend to work as government employees. The Samity is cooperating very actively to help
formation of the DoT. The BCS (Telecom) Samity is committed to work hard to develop the
telecom sector of the country wherever they get the opportunity.
We are grateful to those who gave us ample of encouragement by giving messages and
conveyed their best wishes. We also express our gratitude to Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications
and Information Technology, BTRC, BTCL administration for support and all co-operations and to
all members of BCS (Telecom) Samity for inspiring us in our efforts. We thank the authors,
advertisers and the members of the Samity who have rendered valuable support and
co-operation for bringing out this publication.
Message
Md. Shahjahan
General Secretary
Welcome to this special issue of Magazine, Teletech.
On 17th May the whole world celebrates World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
(WTISD). Like before this year BCS (Telecom) Samity is also enthusiastically Participating with that
celebration and the publication of this special issue of TELETECH is a key aspect of that.
The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise
awareness about ICT, and by using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to
develop the social and economic life of every member of this society.
This year the theme of WTISD, Broadband for Sustainable Development. Now our life has
become fast with the movement of information. But for this rapid movement of information, we
need broadband. Actually now a days we move faster than the vehicles on which we ride on
and work in wider area than we sit down and it is materialized by the soft movement on
information superhighway. Thus broadband has become our daily need, even it is turning toward
basic need of us. Because we can not think our present life without the exchange of information
through Internet, wherever and whenever we are. Considering this aspect of our present life, ITU
has rightly chosen the theme for this year of WTISD.
ICT related people of Bangladesh has recognized TELETECH as an enriched technical magazine
due to its vast, new and wide range of telecom related articles. In this magazine the publication
committee tried to ensure the full freedom of each writers analysis and comments for the interest
of ICT sector of our Country.
We are very grateful to those who gave ample of encouragement by giving messages and
conveyed their best wishes. We also express gratitude to Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications
and Information Technology, BTRC and BTCL administrations for their supports and all out
co-operations and to all members of BCS (Telecom) Samity for inspiring us in our efforts.
I would like to thank the authors, advisers, convener and the members of the Samity who have
rendered valuable support and co-operation for such wonderful come out of this publication.
I would also like to conclude that it is a great experience and honor for me to get such
opportunity of being the Member Secretary of Publication for that special issue of TELETECH and
beg pardon for any un-wanted inconvenience.
Thank you
Sanjib kumar ghatak
Editorial
Member Secretary
TELETECH Publication Committee, 2014
&
Seminar & Publication Secretary
Digital development is a transformative tool to
fast-track sustainable development. In order to realize
its full potential it is essential to roll-out high-speed
broadband networks, making it affordable and
universally accessible.
The theme for WTISD-14, "Broadband for Sustainable
Development", will focus attention on
multi-stakeholder commitment to achieve universal
access to broadband connectivity and content and
foster political will on achieving this objective;
identify key gaps in broadband research and
development, infrastructure, and packaged
development of applications and services; define
policy priorities for action in the areas of allocating
radio frequency spectrum for broadband, universal
access obligations and innovative financing
mechanisms; and lead to technological solutions,
particularly in the extension of broadband access
into rural areas, least developed countries and small
island developing states.
Given that estimates suggest that mobile broadband
subscription may achieve 10 billion by the end of this
decade and that over 90 per cent of international
data traffic runs over fibre-optic cables ITU's thrust to
push the broadband agenda for sustainable
development focuses on the dual goals of supporting
the deployment of mobile broadband based on ITU's
International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) and
the continued rollout of fixed-line technologies.
International consensus achieved on ITU standards
and radio spectrum related activities for mobile
telephony, fibre optics and access standards such as
DSL, is the key to achieving the goals of universal
access.
The evolution of this work is complemented by key
activities including earth monitoring through satellites
and oceanographic radars, developing green
standards and smart interventions to combat climate
change, and m-Powering development.
Broadband infrastructure development is a critical
element in ensuring that ICTs are used innovatively as
delivery vehicles for health, education, governance,
trade and commerce in order to achieve sustainable
socio-economic growth. Education is a keystone for
educating people with regard to the impact and
consequences of their activities for sustainable
development, thereby ensuring a better future for all.
As the leading specialized agency of the United
Nations for information and communication
technologies (ICT), ITU looks towards its Members to
harness the catalytic role of ICTs in achieving
sustainable development.
World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day 2014 (WTISD)
Theme 2014:
Broadband for Sutainable Development
INFORMATION SOCIETY DAY 2014
17
Introduction
The network of submarine or undersea cables
around the earth has made todays
broadband internet very fast. It further holds
the potential of offering more data
transmission capacity. The global network of
today is made of extensive undersea
submarine and terrestrial network segments
linked together to connect almost all
continents of the world. The submarine cables
in the form of telegraph cables came in the
world Telecom industry long before, and then
it was the fiber optic cables that made the
breakthrough. Basically made of pairs of
optical fibers with each pair having one core
in each direction of transmission/reception, in
the beginning, simple point-to-point
connections could be realized with
submarine cables. Now, with the
development of branching units, more than
one destination can be served by a single
cable system. Now-a-days, a vast majority of
the international traffic is carried by the
submarine cables.
The reliability of submarine cables is
considered high, as multiple paths can be
made available in the event of a cable
break. Also, the typical information carrying
capacity of a single optical fiber in the
submarine cables is several terabits per
second (Tbps) with such small latencies as
just a few milliseconds (ms). While it is
possible that the satellites can offer in
gigabits per second, the high latency of
satellite links is a great problem making them
unsuitable for many internet services.
Certainly, the satellite systems are not a
match with these submarine cable systems
in terms of signal quality, bit-rate (capacity)
and latency. Thus, there is a good demand
for the optical submarine cable links and
these have become national assets to the
owner countries.
Joining with a Second Submarine Cable
Existing SMW-4 cable is the only submarine
cable that has kept Bangladesh connected
with the international information
superhighway. Due to any calamity or other
reasons, if this cable gets into any kind of
physical damage or disruption, countrys
international long distance
telecommunication would suffer badly. Thats
why Bangladesh has been working for long to
achieve redundancy for the existing
SEA-ME-WE-4 (SMW-4) Submarine Cable as it
is a necessity for the country to support for
Internet and voice traffic during outage in the
SMW-4 cable.
The new SEA-ME-WE-5 (SMW-5) cable will be
another submarine cable connecting South
East Asia with Western Europe through Middle
East and Africa. The cable would also be
extended to Hong Kong and Japan.
Bangladesh will join as a branch party to this
submarine cable. BSCCL worked with the
SMW-5 Consortium for implementation of a
Branch Sharing arrangement with Myanmar
through the Branch on Branch architecture,
which has helped Bangladesh to reduce the
cost in a significant way.
System Configuration of SMW-5 Submarine
Cable
SMW-5 Submarine Cable System will be a
100G DWDM based 20,000 Km long
repeatered system that is planned to
connect eighteen (18) landing stations. The
*Managing Director, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd.
** Deputy General Manager, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd.
Joining Bangladesh
with the Second Submarine Cable
(SEA-ME-WE-5)
Md. Monwar Hossain*
Parvez M. Ashraf**
18
system will be built with three (3) fiber pairs
having 80 /fiber-pair (, pronounced as
lambda, is the Greek letter for wavelength
of Light), so 80 x 100 Gbps = 8 (eight) Terabits
per second capacity for each fiber pair; thus
providing a very high design capacity of 24
Terabits per second.
Fig. 1: Cable-Route of SEA-ME-WE-5
Alcatel-Lucent of France and NEC of Japan
have been selected for jointly work on
building the system. Both suppliers will use
their latest high performance equipments,
cable and systems using efficient DWDM,
Polarization Division Multiplexed Digital
Phase Modulation/Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying (PDM-QPSK or DP-QPSK) and
Coherent detection technologies, with
highly flexible ROADMs (Reconfigurable
Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer) along the
links. The cable route map of the SMW-5
submarine cable is given in Figure 1.
Main Components and Technologies of the
System
The Procurement Group (PG) of SMW-5
systematically processed the whole
procurement for commissioning of the cable.
The process is typically long and extensive.
Many technical and financial issues would
come into the picture and those would be
dealt with by the Engineers of the PG. For
example, the line terminal equipments must
be able to handle very high speed traffic
transported to a long distance; and the
system must be extremely reliable with
sufficient protection schemes and high speed
automatic protection switching.
Fig. 2: Main Systems of SMW-5 Submarine Cable
The technology that made this 100 G
transmission possible is Polarization
Multiplexed QPSK modulation (PM-QPSK) with
a coherent receiver. Modulation is required to
ensure propagation, to perform multiple
accesses and to enhance the SNR, as well as
to achieve bandwidth compression. PM-QPSK
modulation technique would decrease the
baud or symbol rate of the system, using four
bits per symbol, keeping the optical spectrum
four times narrower than the unreduced baud
rate. Because of the capability to pass
through multiple Optical Add-Drop
Multiplexers (OADMs) and its practical PMD
(Polarization Mode Dispersion) tolerance,
PM-QPSK is recognized as a viable format for
deployment within 50GHz-spaced systems.
The 20,000 Km SMW-5 submarine cable will be
equipped with the repeaters and Branching
Units (BU) for branching out. Any segment
coming as core or branch will be terminated
at the Beach Manholes (BMH). From the BMH
splicing will be done with the land cable which
will connect to the Submarine Cable Landing
Station (SCLS). Power Feeding Equipment (PFE)
will supply power to the Repeaters using the
Land and Subsea cables. The Submarine Line
Terminal Equipments (SLTE) will perform the
MUX/DEMUX & Modulation/Demodulation
functions and provide the client interfaces to
the Optical Distribution Frame (ODF). The total
submarine cable will be managed generally
with a DCN (Data Communication Network)
and Management System as well as Craft
Terminals for small and local level
managements.
19
The SMW-5 submarine cable will consist of
the five segments: S1A, S1B, S2, S3 and S4.
Bangladesh will be included in Segment S1A
in sub-segment S1.8.2 through the branching
units BU1D (Common) and BU1D1 (Branch
on branch).
The detail arrangements of Core and Branch
stations of S1A are shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3: Core Landing and Branching
Architecture of S1A in SEA-ME-WE-5
Advantages of joining the SMW-5 Consortium
Joining the SMW-5 cable consortium is
expected to bring about a number of
benefits for both BSCCL as a submarine cable
company, and Bangladesh, as a country.
Some of those benefits are described below:
(i) For extending the voice traffic to different
parts of the World particularly Middle East,
Europe and America, Bangladesh can
have chances to reach these destinations
almost without any extra charges.
(ii) For IP Transit, Bangladesh would have
multi-choices to bring IP bandwidth at a
cheaper rate covering both east & west
side destinations. This means that BSCCL
shall have better opportunity to arrange its
traffic (IP) from cheaper destinations of
East & West.
(iii) Project cost for BSCCL will be much
cheaper for SMW-5 cable (around 77
million USD) in respect of bandwidth prices.
(iv) Bangladesh as a country would enjoy the
total benefit of redundancy of the circuits
& also the multiple destinations for SMW-5.
(v) The unit cost for bandwidth would be
much cheaper in case of SMW-5 cable.
Moreover, the adaptation of future
technology for future expansion can be
easy approachable.
(vi) There would be a very good opportunity to
flourish BPO industries (Call centers, data
entry, Software export etc) in Bangladesh
with the support of two submarine cable
communication systems.
Interconnection of SMW-4 and SMW-5
Landing Stations of Bangladesh
An additional plan has been made by BSCCL
to interconnect the two submarine cable
Landing Stations of Bangladesh with a
submarine cable. In this way, the two landing
stations Coxs Bazar (for SMW-4) and Kuakata
(for SMW-5) will be interlinked. The estimated
length of this link would be 350 Km. It would
be made of 2 (two) fiber pairs with an initial
capacity of 100 Gbps/per fiber pair and 16
Tbps as design capacity. Other important
feature is this submarine cable would be a
repeater less system with a design life of
about 25 years. The two submarine cable
systems will also be interconnected through a
terrestrial DWDM backbone.
Therefore, interconnection through both the
Submarine Cable and Terrestrial Systems will
ensure the strong security and redundancy in
the Submarine Cable Infrastructure of
Bangladesh which will keep the core
communication infrastructure seamlessly
connected to the Information Superhighway.
Fig.4: Proposed Interconnecting Submarine
Cable Between Kuakata and Coxs Bazar
20
Vision of the Future in relation with the Second
Submarine Cable
Becoming a member of South East Asia-
Middle East-Western Europe-4 (SEA-ME-WE-4)
consortium Bangladesh received initial
capacity of 7.5 Gbps. Presently, capacity of
Bangladesh in SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine Cable
System of BSCCL is around 200 Gbps.
In recent years, as a result of connecting with
submarine cable system there were rapid
expansions of the broadband internet
industry, resulting in over 180 registered ISP's
by 2005 and the number of Internet
subscriptions grew from 186,000 in 2000 to
617,300 in 2009. In Bangladesh the total
number of Internet Subscribers has reached
36.25 million at the end of August 2013 which
is around 23% if total population.
Keeping the Vision 2021, Digital Bangladesh
in view, the Government of Bangladesh has
exclusive plans to extend the broadband
internet and telecommunication facilities for
the benefits of the people as elaborated in
Governments ILDTS (International Long
Distance Telecommunication Service),
Broadband and ICT Policies.
Based on the plans above BSCCL has worked
on a forecast of the Internet bandwidth
demand according to timeframe shown in
the table:
Table 1: Demand Forecast for Internet Bandwidth in Bangladesh
Organizations Internet Bandwidth Requirement
Type Total No. Total
bandwidth/
organization
(Mbps)
6 months
(Mbps)
12 months
(Mbps)
24 months
(Mbps)
36 Months
(Mbps)
Government
(district + upazilla)
12000 1 2000 7000 12000 12000
Thana 500 1 200 250 450 450
Local
Government
(urban)
350 1 200 250 350 350
Local
Government
(rural)
4500 1 100 600 2000 4500
Secondary School 19000 1 1000 2000 9000 19000
Secondary
Madrasa
9500 1 500 1000 4500 9500
Colleges 3500 4 1000 1400 14000 14000
Primary School
(only 25% of total)
20000 1 500 1000 5000 20000
Health Complex
(urban)
1000 2 500 600 2100 2100
Community
Health Clinic
(rural)
18000 1 200 700 5700 18000
Post Office 8500 1 250 500 2500 8500
Total (Mbps) 96850 6450 15300 57600 108400
Gbps (Gbps) 6.45 15.3 57.6 108.4
21
After catering for the needs for bandwidth
inside the country, Bangladesh has still got
opportunities to lease out submarine cable
bandwidth to land locked neighboring
countries like Nepal and Bhutan. BSCCL is
presently working to design for links to Indian
North-Eastern provinces for transport of IP
transit as below;
(a) Coxs Bazar Chittagong Comilla B.
baria Akhaura Agortola
(b) Coxs Bazar Chittagong Comilla B.
baria Sylhet Tamabil Shilong
(Meghalaya).
There is a demand of BSCCL bandwidth in
Myanmar also. If BSCCL could be involved to
tap the Telecom requirements of those parts
of the Globe, it could earn a good deal of
foreign currency during the life-times of the
submarine cables.
In the past, before the submarine cable era
started in Bangladesh, the long distance
telecommunication of Bangladesh was
dependent on Satellite systems with severe
limitation of bandwidth and speed of
communication. We have become aware
now that the availability of Internet with high
magnitude of bandwidth has great impact
on the economic development of the
country, we should use all the benefits of
submarine cables to make Bangladesh a
middle-income country soon.
References
1. Alcatel: www.alcatel-lucent.com/
submarine/
2. NEC:http://www.nec.com/en/gl obal /
prod/nw/ submarine/index.html
3. Optical Internetworking Forum:
http://www.oiforum.com/
4. Telegeography: www.telegeography
.com
5. Suboptic Forum: www.suboptic.org
6. Infinera: www.infinera.com
7. Performance of Dual-Polarization QPSK for
Optical Transport Systems by K. Roberts, M.
OSullivan, K. T. Wu, H. Sun, A. Awadalla, D.
J. Krause, & C. Laperle
8. Optical Fiber Telecommunications part V-
vol. B (Systems and Networks) edited by I.
P. Kaminow,T. Li & A. E. Willner
9. Latest Technology of Optical Transmission
System (40G/100G Solutions) Deployed in
SMW-4 Submarine Cable Upgrade and
the Bandwidth Situation in Bangladesh by
Md. Monwar Hossain & Parvez M. Ashraf
(published in Teletech 2011)
10. Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing
(100 G Solution) adopted in SMW-5
Submarine Cable System - What is in the
Laboratory for Higher Bandwidth Solution?
by Md. Monwar Hossain & Parvez M.
Ashraf (published in Teletech 2012)
11. Use of Advanced Optical Transmission
Technologies for Redundancy in the
Submarine Cable Systems of Bangladesh
Md. Monwar Hossain & Parvez M. Ashraf
(published in Teletech 2013)
12. Acknowledgment: Md. Zakirul Alam,
DGM, BSCCL for reports on bandwidth
forecast.
22
23
Demystifying Broadband
Perceptions
A. K. M. Habibur Rahman*
1. Introduction
We all know that concept of Internetworking
of network originated from the ARPANET
(Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network) project of Dept. of Defense, USA.
There are now millions of computers
world-wide connecting each other forming
the Internet. Although the word Internet
was used for the first time in 1982, an
American Internet Service Provider, The World
(www.theworld.com), was the first public
dialup Internet Service Provider on the planet
started service in 1989. Until Digital Subscriber
Line (DSL) and Cable Modem become
common in most of the households, the only
way to access the Internet was using dial
from PSTN (Public Switched Telephone
Network) connection.
Dialup technology uses digital modem which
transforms digital signal of computer into
analog signal for traversing over PSTN and
vice versa. The first commercial modem, Bell
103, was manufactured by AT&T in 1962.
Finally the 56 kbps modem was invented by
Dr. Brent Townshend in 1996. Dialup Internet
using 56 kbps modem is termed as
Narrowband Internet.
The main drawback of this dial-up
connection was that a single phone line
could only be used for modem transmission,
or phone calls it was not possible to use both
services simultaneously. The speed was also
painfully slow. Business users had to install a
second phone line dedicated to the
modem. The need to use the same phone
line for modem transmission and phone call
simultaneously was the mother of invention
of broadband.
2. Birth of Broadband
Nothing much changed about modem and
internet technology until a great leap
occurred to overcome the problems of
analog PSTN system by inventing the
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
technology. The ISDN is comprised of digital
telephony and data-transport services
offered by the telephone carriers. The ISDN
offers two types of services: (i) Basic Rate
Interface (BRI) with two B channels @ 64 kbps
and one D channel @ 16 kbps providing its
total bit rate to 192 kbps. (ii) ISDN Primary Rate
Interface (PRI) service offers 23 B channels
and 1 D channel in North America and
Japan, yielding a total bit rate of 1.544 Mbps
(here D channel runs at 64 kbps). ISDN PRI in
Europe, Australia, and other parts of the
world provides 30 B channels plus one
64-kbps D channel and a total interface rate
of 2.048 Mbps.
Unfortunately ISDN technology did not
spread-over and become popular all over
the world. However, the technology
continues to use till now. A quantum leap in
the data communication speed in the last
mile happened during the mid 1990s, when
Digital Subscriber line (DSL) technology made
it possible to provide both internet access
and telephone calls through the same
telephone line simultaneously. Since then
different variants of a particular technology
as well as alternate technologies have been
developed to increase data communication
speed. Initiatives have been ongoing in both
the wired and wireless telephony to increase
data communication speed.
* Director, BTCL, Currently working as CEO, Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN)
24
3. Defining Broadband Worldwide
3.1 International Telecommunication Union
ITU-T Recommendation I.113 defines the term
broadband [wideband] as Qualifying a
service or system requiring transmission
channels capable of supporting rates greater
than the primary rate. The primary rate is
ISDN primary rate which is 1.5 Mbps in North
America and Japan or 2.0 Mbps in Europe
and other countries. ITU-T Recommendation
Series I is related to Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) and Recommendation I.113 is
about Vocabulary of terms for broadband
aspects of ISDN. The Recommendation was
published in June 1997.
In September 2003, ITU published the report
ITU INTERNET REPORTS: BIRTH OF
BROADBAND. The report states that
Broadband is commonly used to describe
recent Internet connections that are
significantly faster than todays dial-up
technologies, but it is not a specific speed or
service. Recommendation I.113 of the ITU
Standardization Sector defines broadband as
a transmission capacity that is faster than
primary rate ISDN, at 1.5 or 2.0 Mbps.
Elsewhere, broadband is considered to
correspond to transmission speeds equal to or
greater than 256 kbps, and some operators
even label basic rate ISDN (at 144 kbps) as a
type of broadband. In this report, while not
defining broadband specifically, 256 kbps is
generally taken as the minimum speed.
The report recognizes that The term
broadband is like a moving target. Internet
access speeds are increasing all the time. As
technology improves, even ITUs
recommended speeds will soon be
considered too slow. Recently, ITU in its
document Core ICT Indicators 2010
released in January 2010 has considered the
broadband as follows:
Fixed broadband refers to technologies at
speeds of at least 256kbit/s, in one or both
directions, such as DSL (Digital Subscriber
Line), cable modem, high speed leased lines,
fibre-to-the-home, power-line, satellite,
fixed wireless, Wireless Local Area Network
and WiMAX.
Mobile broadband refers to technologies at
speeds of at least 256kbit/s, in one or both
directions, such as Wideband CDMA
(WCDMA), known as Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) in
Europe; High Speed Downlink Packet Access
(HSDPA), complemented by High Speed
Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA); CDMA2000
1xEVDO and CDMA 2000 1xEVDV. Access
can be via any device (handheld computer
laptop or mobile cellular telephone etc.).
3.2 OECD Countries
The Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) defines
broadband as an Internet connection that is
capable of sustaining download speeds to
individual users greater than or equal to 256
kbps. It is observed that broadband speed
defined by most of the countries is less than or
equal to 256 Kbps.
3.3 Some other Countries
Bangladesh: National Broadband Policy 2009
of Bangladesh defines the broadband as An
always on data/internet connection that
ensures a minimum bandwidth of 128 Kbps
subject to its revision as and when necessary.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has revised
the definition of broadband service in
January 2013. As per BTRC notification,
always on connectivity with minimum 1Mbps
bandwidth shall be defined as broadband.
India: Broadband Policy 2004 of India defines
broadband as An always-on data
connection that is able to support interactive
services including Internet access and has the
capability of the minimum download speed of
256 kilo bits per second (kbps) to an individual
subscriber from the Point of Presence (PoP) of
the service provider intending to provide
Broadband service where multiple such
individual Broadband connections are
aggregated and the subscriber is able to
access these interactive services including the
Internet through this PoP. The interactive
services will exclude any services for which a
separate license is specifically required, for
example, real-time voice transmission, except to
the extent that it is presently permitted under ISP
license with Internet Telephony.
25
Department of Telecommunications, India
has declared that only those wireline Internet
subscribers with at least 512kbps as should be
treated as broadband with effect from
October 2013. Consequently, the number of
broadband connections in India has come
down to 14.91 million connections from 15.3
million (the rest are classified as Internet
connections).
Pakistan: Pakistan Broadband Policy 2004
defines broadband As most applications
can be adequately supported if the minimum
user speed is around 128kbps, accordingly
broadband in Pakistan will be defined as
Always on Internet connection with a
download speed of at least 128kbps
connectivity. This download speed target will
be subject to an increase as the bandwidth
prices reduce, local content becomes
available and there is a general increase in
awareness of broadband. Pakistan
broadband policy also recognizes the
variations in the definition of Broadband
ranging from 128 Kbps to 2 Mbps or higher
among different countries.
South Africa: South African Government
Gazette No. 33377 published on 13 JULY 2010
mentions that the Standardization Sector of
ITU defines Broadband as a speed of 1.5 to 2
Mbps while the Development Sector defines
Broadband to be 256 kbps. The Gazette
declares South Africa will follow the
guideline from the ITU Development Sector
and as such Broadband will be interpreted as
an always available, multimedia capable
connection with a download speed of at
least 256 kbps.
Figure 1: Minimum Broadband Speed in
Different Countries/regions (in kbps)
United State of America: Federal Communications
Commission defined broadband as the
capability of supporting, in both the
provider-to-consumer (downstream) and the
consumer-to-provider (upstream) directions, a
speed (in technical terms, bandwidth) in excess
of 200 Kbps in the last mile.
Scotland: Broadband is a very high speed
always-on service connection allowing large
amounts of information to be conveyed quickly,
such as data, graphics files or video generally
defined as a bandwidth more than 512 Kbits/s.
4.0 Reasons behind Variations in Definitions
4.1 Country Landscape
Comparative research demonstrated that
the definition of Broadband in different
countries varies between 128 kbps and 10
Mbps. Due to each countrys unique needs
and history, including economic,
geographic and regulatory factors,
definitions of broadband vary widely. It was
also observed that in most cases the
"advertised" throughput speed has a weak
relation with the actually delivered speed,
which will actually vary over time,
depending on the application, the server,
and many other factors.
4.2 Statistical Reason!
It should be kept in mind that defining a
broadband with a higher value of data rate is not
a panacea. It depends on the availability of the
service, subscribing power of the users and on
the overall economic and social conditions of
the country. If a higher value is set, connections
below that data rates will not be officially
recognized as broadband and eventually not
included in the statistics. This will contribute a
negative impact in the computation of different
indices (e.g. Digital Opportunity Index, ICT
Readiness Index, E-readiness Index, ICT
development Index) prepared and published by
different international and regional bodies. These
indices indicate one countrys ICT capability and
help build country image in the international
arena. To have a better position in the index
table, some countries might have still set a lower
value to define broadband which must
supports common broadband applications
with an intention to upgrade the cut-off
value periodically.
26
5. Impact of Broadband on ICT
Development Index
The ICT Development Index (IDI) has been
introduced by ITU in 2009 to monitor and
compare status of ICT developments across
the countries. It was developed as a
composite index combining eleven ICT
indicators, grouped in three clusters: access,
use and skills. ICT access and ICT use are the
two major components of the IDI giving equal
weight whereas ICT skills have been given less
weight. The composition, reference values
and weight of the sub-indices for determining
the IDI have been pictorially shown below.
Figure 2: Indicators of ICT Development Index
developed by ITU
Figure 3: Composition of ICT Development Index
It is understood that broadband has a
substantial contribution to the measurement of
ICT Use sub-index in the computation of the IDI.
The statistics based on national reference
value for broadband are collected by ITU from
different national regulators and used for
computation of the IDI. So, the national
definition of broadband has some impact on
the competitive status of the ICT capabilities of
the nations around the world. A comparison
table of the ICT use indicators of 6 nations of
SAARC countries shown below will
demonstrate the status of Bangladesh with
respect to ICT Use sub-index of the IDI.
Table-1: ICT Use Indicators for Six Nations of
SAARC Region for 2011 & 2012
6. Shifting of Fixed-broadband Speed
The ITU report Measuring the Information
Society 2013 presented a statistics on
minimum advertised fixed-broadband
speeds of 144 nations over the period 2008 to
2012 as given in the table. It is observed that
45% countries offered fixed-broadband with
256 Kbps minimum speed in 2008 which came
down to 21% in 2012. Number of countries
offering broadband with minimum speed in
256~512 Kbps segment and 512~1024 Kbps
segment have not changed over the study
period. But number of countries doubled in
1024~ 2048 Kbps segment and 2.048~10 Mbps
segment during that period. It is remarkable
that still 4.2% countries do not advertise any
minimum speed for fixed-broadband. The
statistics demonstrate the fact that upward
movement of minimum fixed-broadband
speed occurred although one-third countries
still offer minimum 256~512 Kbps speeds for
fixed-broadband service.
Country Percentage of
individuals
using the
Internet
Fixed (wired)-
broadband
subscriptions per
100 inhabitants
Active mobile
broadband
subscriptions
per 100 inhabitants
ICT Development
Index Ranking
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
Bangladesh 5 6.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 139 135
Bhutan 21 25.4 1.8 2.2 0.9 2.5 117 118
India 10.1 12.6 1.1 1.1 1.9 4.9 120 121
Maldives 34 38.9 5.4 5.5 17.5 21.5 71 73
Pakistan 9 10 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.7 128 129
Sri Lanka 15 18.3 1.7 2.0 2.3 4.4 107 107
Advertised Speed (Mbit/s 2008 2012
0.256 45.1 20.8
>0.256 - 0.512 18.8 16.0
>0.512 - 1.024 17.4 18.1
>1.024 - 2.048 7.6 13.9
>2.048 - 10 9.0 20.1
>10 - 50 - 6.9
Speed not specied 2.1 4.2
27
7.0 Misunderstandings on Broadband
The common misunderstanding is about the
width (broad) of the band up to what level in
the full path of delivery of the service. When a
subscriber subscribes a 256 kbps broadband
connection, he/she expects to get 256 kbps
Internet at all times! Here misunderstanding is
the main reason behind such expectation.
Before clearing up the misconception, it is very
necessary to understand the broadband value
chain. As depicted in Figure-2, full path of the
broadband value chain consists mainly of three
parts. The last mile part consisted of Service
Providers PoP to End User is called access part,
Service Providers PoP to International Internet
Gateway (IIG)/National Internet Exchange (NIX)
is composed of National Long Distance
Transmission Part and IIG to Overseas network
consists of national backhaul & overseas
upstream connection part. It is universally
understood that broadband connectivity is
meant for access part i.e. between the end user
to the service provider Point of Presence (PoP).
Figure - 4 : Broadband Value Chain
Although broadband is sometimes
interchangeably used with Broadband
Internet, but the perception in not fitted in
Bangladesh Context. Bangladesh is
geographically situated in such a location of
the planet; it has to bear longer
transportation to connect with the global
Internet. Due to serious lack of local content
availability, most of the Internet traffics have
to traverse the overseas upstream network.
Hence, broadband to be perceived as
broadband Internet seems to be very costly.
Availability of all necessary contents locally
will lessen the burden on overseas bandwidth
and make the users feel true broadband.
The second misunderstanding is about minimum
bandwidth to be assigned as dedicated or
shared for the full path of broadband delivery.
This is related to quality of service and price of
the service to be paid. It is unrealistic to consider
subscribed bandwidth for the full path in terms of
value of the broadband package. Many
operators formulate package to offer
dedicated bandwidth for full path at higher
price and term the service as Leased Line
Internet. There are big differences between
Broadband Services and Leased Line Internet
Services. The service providers offer the
broadband service at cheap rates because this
does not guarantee subscribed bandwidth
availability at all time beyond the Service
Providers PoP. These services are always on best
effort basis. But in case of Leased Line Internet,
the service providers have to ensure 100%
availability of bandwidth at all time for full path
for what has been paid for by the customer.
The regulators specify different criteria to
maintain quality of broadband service by the
service providers. As for example, TRAI issues
Quality of Service of Broadband Service
Regulations 2006 and directs the service
providers for Subscribed Broadband
Connection Speed to be met >80% from ISP
Node to User.
8. Conclusion
There is an alternative approach to define the
broadband by some countries. They define
broadband in terms of functionality instead of
defining in terms of speed. Brazil is an
example where broadband is defined as the
internet connection with sufficient capacity
to provide access to data, voice and video
applications that are common or socially
relevant to users. This allows for the
government to adjust the set of Internet
applications that serve as the benchmark.
However, as far as countrys competitive
status is concerned, it needs to follow a
common metric. If it wants to be able to track
its growth in broadband availability from year
to year, it needs to set a standard that can be
easily and reliably measured over time. In the
midst of controversy of defining broadband in
different countries, Canada has set a clear
position in this regard. The Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission distinguishes between
high-speed Internet service, defined as at
least 128 kbps, and broadband service,
which must be at least 1.5 Mbps. This is an
interesting solution indeed!
28
29
Focus on broadband speed
and its significance on
development sustainability
Mamun Monzurul Aziz*
A. NEED FOR SPEED:
In todays society all over the world,
accessibility to the Internet, with all its
possibilities, is a greatly important part of
peoples everyday life. This holds true seen
anywhere from an individuals perspective to
large organizations on a macro scale. In order
to use common Internet services, a fast
connection is essential. Broadband, which is a
collection of high-speed techniques for
Internet connection, which is still under
constant development, is a very
indispensable focus now a day.
Figure 1: Internet User Penetration, 2000-2015
(Source: ITU)
In very common classification BROADBAND
technology is a high-speed Internet
connection, which is always available and
has a minimum speed of 256 kbit/s (kilobit per
second). However, since broadband
technologies are always changing, the
definition of broadband also continues to
evolve. Today, the term broadband typically
describes recent Internet connections that
range from 5 times to 2000 times faster than
earlier Internet dial-up technologies.
However, the term broadband does not refer
to either a certain speed or a specific service.
Broadband combines connection capacity
(bandwidth) and speed. Recommendation
I.113 of the ITU Standardization Sector defines
broadband as a transmission capacity that is
faster than primary rate Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) at 1.5 or 2.0 Megabits
per second (Mbits).
Broadband has three main benefits, such as-
(1) Broadband speeds are significantly faster
than previous technologies, making it faster
and more convenient to access information
or conduct online transactions using the
Internet. The speed of broadband service has
also enhanced existing services, such as
online gaming, and enabled new
applications, such as downloading music and
videos. (2) Depending on the type of
technology deployed, there can be
economic gains associated with broadband.
For example, with DSL, users can use a single
standard phone line for both voice and data
services. (3) Broadband enhances existing
Internet applications, while paving the way for
new solutions, which were too expensive,
inefficient or slow to consider in the past. This
may include everything from new
e-government services, such as electronic tax
filing, to online health care services, e-learning
and increased levels of electronic commerce.
B. EVALUATION OF SPEED:
The development of broadband started with
the expansion of the Internet. The Internet
was available to the public in the 1980s but
with no real means for regular people to
access it. The initial connections were slow
* Assistant Divisional Engineer, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
30
and the maximum speed capacity of 56
kbit/s (using dial-up connection) was not
enough to really enable the demanded
services. In the late 1990s broadband
connections entered the market and brought
the evolution of the Internet and its related
services to a new level.
Today, an increasing number of people all
over the world are gaining broadband
access and the average broadband speed is
increasing. This development is possible due
to global initiatives and decreasing
subscribing costs. The improved usability of
Internet services has created a global
demand for higher broadband speed. The
broadband market is growing and
governments of the countries are willing to
support the progress, the rising number of
Internet subscribers worldwide makes
broadband studies of particular interest.
Like most new technologies, broadband was
extremely expensive when first launched, and
not nearly as fast as it is today. As the
technology improved and the competition
grew, the prices went down and the market
expanded. As the demand increased, the
Internet service providers began to compete
with each other to offer faster broadband to
affordable prices. In order to support the
growing demand, new technologies such as
ADSL, cable and satellite were developed.
This has led to a present maximum speed that
is thousands times faster compared to the first
broadband connection (1024 Mbit/s vs. 0,256
Mbit/s), and the available connection speeds
continue to rise. The progress of broadband
has tremendously enhanced the growth of
the World Wide Web. Today the public has
access to a countless number of Internet
applications, scripts and enterprise software
that are enabled by high-speed connectivity.
The present developed society is more or less
depending on the ability to communicate
information quickly. In less than 20 years,
broadband has become an established
technology in a wide range of key sectors,
such as, politics, transportation, construction,
education, health and agriculture. In these
parts of the world, Internet services are used
on a daily basis, often several hours a day.
Today, high speed Internet is accessible on
PCs, cell phones or smart phones and other
devices. People use it at work, at home, when
travelling and during other activities.
Broadband has visibly contributed to the
modern society.
Figure 2: Mobile Broadband Bridges the
Gap: Fixed Broadband and Mobile
Subscriptions, 2009-2018
(Source: Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2013.)
The stellar growth in mobile is helping bridge
the basic digital divide in access to ICT
services (Figure 2). Expanding the availability
of high-speed broadband could have several
positive social, economic and environmental
effects. Some of the achievable effects are:
improved communication, increased
innovation and productivity, new jobs and
reduced environmental impact.
Even more significantly, by the end of 2013, the
number of broadband subscriptions in the
developing world will exceed the number of
broadband subscriptions in the developed
world for the first time, in both fixed and mobile,
respectively. Much of this fresh growth is
located in emerging markets. Much of the
growth is located in developing countries,
which now account for over half of all fixed
broadband subscriptions. However, overall,
fixed broadband penetration rates remain low,
at 6.1% in developing countries, compared
with 27.2% in developed countries in 2013.
C. RELATION OF BROADBAND WITH
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
Broadband technology also has the potential
to support sustainable development. But
what is Sustainable Development? -
31
"Sustainable development is development
that meets the needs of the present, without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs."
Figure 3: Simplified illustration of sustainable
development.
The concept of sustainable development
can be interpreted in many different ways,
but its an approach to development that
looks to balance different, and often
competing, needs against an awareness of
the environmental, social and economic
limitations we face as a society. All too often,
development is driven by one particular
need, without fully considering the wider or
future impacts. Sustainable development
recognizes that growth must be both inclusive
and environmentally sound to reduce
poverty and build shared prosperity for
todays population and to continue to meet
the needs of future generations. It is efficient
with resources and carefully planned to
deliver both immediate and long-term
benefits for people, planet, and prosperity.
The three pillars of sustainable development
economic growth, environmental
stewardship, and social inclusion carry
across all sectors of development.
For sustainable development, the progress of
technology is essential, but the technological
development alone is not sufficient to ensure a
sustainable future. In order to overcome the
different global challenges, such as rising
population, poverty, epidemics, climate
changes and simultaneously maintain the
economic growth, the world need powerful
tools. Cooperation and communication are
essential to unite nations and to engage people
on all levels of society. Broadband is rare in that
respect that it has the potential to address
many sustainability challenges, while
simultaneously increasing socio-economic
development. From a political strategy
perspective, there are therefore strong
incentives to invest in both broadband
penetration and upgrades of the average
broadband speed.
Whilst many previous studies observed
accessibility, penetration, deployment and
adoption to broadband technology, few studies
concern broadband speed. However, Rohman
and Bohlin (2012) from Chalmers University of
Technology, Sweden recently found from a
study that not only the availability of
broadband, but also the speed of the
broadband drives economic growth on a
macro level. One of the main findings was that
doubling the broadband speed for an economy
increases GDP growth by 0.3 percent.
D. SOCIO_ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF MOBILE
BROADBAND SERVICES:
Mobile broadband services generate
significant economic and social benefits, in
both developed and developing countries,
either directly by investment in infrastructure
deployment, or through the use of the
infrastructure to start new business activities,
improve efficiency and productivity. Internet
infrastructure contributes towards economic
development by facilitating access to
information, IT literacy, news, current events
and links to remote markets.
Figure 4: Impact of Broadband speed up
gradation on society
32
The use of digital dividend spectrum for
mobile broadband will boost accessibility
and speed. These bands offer attractive
propagation characteristics and an optimal
balance between transmission capacity and
coverage, of great advantage for remote
and poorly connected rural areas. In
developing nations, mobile broadband can
connect remote populations and strengthen
health, education, livelihoods, financial
inclusion and access to government services
for marginalized populations:
D.1. Education Awareness is growing of the
possibilities offered by mobile-learning.
The falling cost of smart phones, the
advent of lower priced tablets,
cloud-computing and the rise of Open
Education Resources (OERs) can
increase access to education in
underserved areas.
D.2. Health Health applications available
via mobile broadband can reduce costs
(e.g., through access to health records);
allow physicians to provide care
remotely via remote monitoring and
diagnosis; and support preventative
care. GSMA/PWC (2013) estimate that
mobile health could save developed
countries US$400 billion in 2017 and save
one million lives over five years in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
D.3. SME growth, entrepreneurship and job
growth Mobile broadband can open
up regional and global markets to local
entrepreneurs. SMEs (Small and Medium
Enterprises) can generate more revenue,
lower costs, higher productivity, and jobs.
SMEs which spend more than 30% of their
budget on web technologies grow their
revenue nine times as fast as SMEs
spending less than 10% .
D.4. Agriculture Mobile internet can boost
revenue by improving access to
financial services/agricultural
information and by promoting supply
chain efficiencies. Investments in
broadband infrastructure and
broadband-enabled applications and
services can help to protect the
environment and promote a more
efficient use of natural resources. New
systems built on comprehensive
information to help farmers and others to
plan and make the most of existing
assets. Simple but valuable information
can help people managing risks, which
in the farmers case can contribute to a
more secure supply of food and water
D.5. Financial Inclusion Mobile technologies
offer a way to access banking services
which have been traditionally
unavailable to large parts of the
population. It is estimated that 2.5 billion
individuals are unbanked worldwide.
Mobile financial services represent an
opportunity for many nations to achieve
financial inclusion of the poor.
D.6. Government Services Local and
national governments can keep citizens
up-to-date with new and events and
offer immediate and interactive access
to services (e.g. for licenses or voting).
E. BROADBAND BASED ICTs FOR MDGs:
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can
be possible to achieve with the progress of
broadband. Some critical impacts of
broadband technology over MDGs are
describing below-
E.1. End Poverty & Hunger-Growing evidence
suggests that broadband can boost GDP,
jobs and incomes, helping to combat
poverty and hunger. In the Dominican
Republic, a 10% increase in broadband
penetration could reduce unemployment
by 2.9%7. In Indonesia, mobile broadband
could boost GDP by 2.9% or US$22.6 bn. In
India, broadband has already generated
nearly 9 million direct and indirect jobs,
while a 1% increase in broadband
penetration could add US$2.7 bn or 0.11%
to Indian GDP in 2015. In South Africa,
wireless broadband and related industries
may generate US$7.2bn and a further
28,000 jobs by 2015.
E.2. Universal Education-Governments and
NGOs are providing schools with PCs
and connectivity to foster primary
education. Examples- in Nigeria, the USF
has teamed up with Intel to deploy
computers in over 1,000 schools since
33
E.2. Universal Education-Governments and
NGOs are providing schools with PCs
and connectivity to foster primary
education. Examples- in Nigeria, the USF
has teamed up with Intel to deploy
computers in over 1,000 schools since
2008, helping improve exam results. In
Uruguay, there is a policy of one
computer per child in primary and
secondary education. In Singapore, all
Schools promotes ICT usage by
deploying teaching, learning and
assessment systems, with apps deployed
in 95% of schools.
E.3. Gender Equality-Closing the mobile
gender gap and bringing 600 million
more women online could increase
global GDP by US$13-18 billion16.
Connect To Learn (CTL) has equipped
10,000 students (especially girls) in
schools in Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti,
Ghana, India, Malawi, Kenya, Senegal,
South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
E.4. Child Health-Mobile applications are
also assisting parents in adding and
monitoring information such as
immunizations, height, weight, and other
development milestones. Aggregated
data collected through public health
applications are allowing health
professionals to access child health and
wellbeing, compare indicators across
localities and regions, and make
better-informed public policy decisions.
The One Million Community Health
Workers Campaign (1mCHW) is making
strides in accelerating CHW program in
sub-Saharan Africa to meet the
health-related MDGs.
E.5. Maternal health-Ultrasound tests through
telemedicine can play a key role in the
monitoring of maternal health via text,
voice messaging and mobile apps.
Online platforms are also serving as an
information and communication hub for
health facilities and supporting
conversations between community
health workers, midwives, clinicians, and
expectant mothers. Computer-based
surveys are changing the scope of HIV
research and prevention. Broadband
allows collaborative research of scientists
around the world by integrating data
much faster than previously, where
repositories were isolated. Patients can
share stories and experiences, support
each other, reach counselors, manage
their personal health records and receive
reminders for appointments/medication
via mobile.
E.6. Environment-Smart use of ICTs can reduce
GHG (Green House Gas) emissions by up
to 25% (Broadband Bridge report). Mobile
technology alone could lower GHGs by
2% by 2020. E-commerce could lower
energy consumption and GHG emissions
by 30% over traditional retail.
Teleconferencing and telecommuting
could replace air and land travel via
video/ audio conferences. ICTs could
potentially save up to 7.8 Gigatons of
carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 (Source:
GESI, 2012). Shifting newspapers online
could potentially save 57.4 million tons of
CO2 emissions over the next decade
(Source: ACI, 2007).
E.7. Partnership-The benefits of new
technologies, especially ICTs, should be
made available by Governments in
cooperation with the private sector. ICTs
are facilitating and enabling new global
partnerships, including crowd-sourcing,
collaborative authoring, teleconferencing
and tele-working. The UN
Secretary-Generals Panel of High-Level
Eminent Persons recently renewed calls for
global partnerships as part of the
post-2015 development agenda.
F. GLOBAL ADVANCMENT OF BEOADBAND:
Although in many countries, broadband
deployment has been realized through the
efforts of the private sector, Governments
play an essential role in ensuring a stable
regulatory and legal framework to foster and
incentivize investments, create a level
playing-field amongst the different factors
present in the market, establish adequate
spectrum policy and reasonable spectrum
allocation, and ensure long-term and
sustainable competition. Governments can
also implement programmes such as
e-government, digital literacy initiatives and
34
connected public institutions and locations.
Progress on policy leadership is relatively
recent, with an explosion in the number of
countries introducing broadband plans in
2009-2010 (Figure 5). Prior to 2006, most plans
focused on information society issues, with
broadband coming to the fore from 2008
onwards. More recently, Digital Agendas
have grown in popularity, incorporating a
cross- sectoral perspective. By mid-2013,
some 134 or 69% of all countries had a
national plan, strategy, or policy in place to
promote broadband, and a further 12
countries or 6% were planning to introduce
such measures in the near future. However,
some 47 countries (or nearly a quarter of all
countries) still do not have any plan, strategy
or policy in place. Even when countries have
plans, achieving progress in implementation
may prove challenging or slow.
Figure 5: Growth in National Broadband
Plans, 2005-2013
(Source: ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission and ITU
Telecommunication/ICT Regulatory Database.)
Figure 6: World Map, according to status of
National Broadband Plan (NBP)
(Source: ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission and ITU
Telecommunication/ICT Regulatory Database.)
G. SCENARIO OF BROADBAND IN
BANGLADESH:
The internet came late to Bangladesh.
Starting in early 1990s, Bangladesh has only
dialup access to e-mail using the Bulletin
Board Systems (BBs) of a very few local
providers and the users were not more than
500. Users were charged by the kilobyte. In
June 1996 first VSAT based data circuit was
commissioned and the then BTTB granted
licenses to two ISPs. In the last few years it has
grown considerably, although obviously from
a very low base. With an estimated internet
user-base of around 10 million coming into
2013, representing just fewer than 7% user
penetration by population, the local internet
industry has been preparing to move into the
next stage of its development.
In 2009 there were 50,000 fixed broadband
internet users in Bangladesh but the charges
were too high in comparison with other
countries. Moreover that time in Bangladesh
128 kbit/s was legally defined as broadband
which was not in line with ITUs definition. Then
at the end of 2009 two companies name
Banglalion and Augere ( Branded as Qubee),
launched commercial WIMAX. After that
broadband speed in Bangladesh actually
got a pace. At the same time State owned
Company, BTCL, also started ADSL, which
were also giving high speed broadband
service. The first 3G license in the country was
awarded to Teletalk and the state-owned
operator Teletalk launched a pilot 3G offering
in September 2012. Although the 3G licensing
process for private operators had become
bogged down for some time, the planned
auction taken place in September 2013 and
at the beginning of 2014 four other Mobile
operators (Banglalink, Robi Axiata and Bharti
Airtel) started 3G business also. After 3G
Subscriptions to mobile internet services
were growing at a rapid rate. Mobile
penetration had grown to 72% by September
2013; The 100 million mobile subscriber
milestone had been reached in 2013;
Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose
recently told that they had decided to award
LTE (Long term Evaluation) license to facilitate
speedy internet access. The five companies-
Banglalion, Qubee, Bangladesh Internet
35
Exchange Limited (BIEL), Mango and
state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications
Company Limited -will have to pay Tk 2.46
billion for the licence.
Figure7: Mobile Phone Network Technology
and Data Speed Progression
(Source: Huawei TNMA 2013)
The 4G technologies i.e LTE are designed to
provide IP- based voice, data and
multimedia streaming at speeds of at least
100 Mbit per second and up to as fast as 1
GBit per second. 4G LTE is one of several
competing 4G standards along with Ultra
Mobile Broadband (UMB) and WiMax. In the
licensing guideline of BTRC, the regulator has
kept the option for LTE service. If any mobile
operator shows interest to offer LTE service, it
does not need to take license again, as the
3G license will permit it to provide the
services.
H. CONCLUSION:
Studies show that increased broadband
speed has a positive impact on the economy
of a country. Broadband enables more
flexible work arrangements and help people
to save time. Higher broadband speed leads
to increased household incomes and GDP
growth, both in develop and developing
countries. A main reason for poverty is
isolation from the rest of the global
community. In order to help developing
countries out of poverty, it is necessary to
invest in broadband, both in availability and
speed. If this fails, developing countries risk
missing out on the economic and social
benefits associated with broadband. To
maximize the impact of broadband on ICTs,
policy- makers must come together and
formulate common strategies on a
converged ICT policy aligned with other
policy areas such as energy, health and
education. Today a growing number of
countries have a national broadband plan,
policy or strategy in place; this is crucial when
it comes to extend the benefits of broadband.
Nevertheless, our future is undoubtedly based
on broadband. Although some end-users may
believe broadband is about downloading
bigger files more rapidly, broadband actually
represents so much more. Broadband is
introducing new ways of doing things across
our personal and professional lives, in the
many and varied ways we communicate
integrating information infrastructure into the
world around us through seamless, always-on
connectivity delivering a range of services
simultaneously. Governments, health
managers, businesses, consumers and
teachers are all getting to grips with the
positive and transformational impact of
broadband for improving economic and
social welfare.
All those discussions show that digital
development is a transformative tool to
fast-track sustainable development. In order
to realize its full potential it is essential to
roll-out high-speed broadband networks,
making it affordable and universally
accessible. Very sensibly International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) takes
"Broadband for Sustainable Development" as
the theme of World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day 2014. Which will focus
attention on multi-stakeholder commitment
to achieve universal access to broadband
connectivity and content and foster political
will on achieving this objective; identify key
gaps in broadband research and
development, infrastructure, and packaged
development of applications and services;
define policy priorities for action in the areas
of allocating radio frequency spectrum for
broadband, universal access obligations and
innovative financing mechanisms; and lead
to technological solutions, particularly in the
extension of broadband access into rural
areas, least developed countries and small
island developing states.
(Source: Internet)
36
37
Mobile Broadband by 4G:
Technology, Present Status in the World
and Prospect in Bangladesh
Sayeed Mahmud*
Introduction
The evolution of information superhighway
through internet technology has generated
unlimited prospect for learning, developing
and rendering service provisioning. To tap the
benefits and to build a knowledge-based
information society, Bangladesh needs to
ensure superior service platform, affordable
and easy access to the ICT for its customers.
Broadband presents a platform for faster
aceess and a wide range of value-added
service through different applications.
Considering the fact, the Government has
decided to build Digital Bangladesh by 2021.
Exclusive plans have already been taken to
achieve this goal. Action programs are going
on as per approved ILDTS (International Long
Distance Telecommunication Service), NBP
(National Broadband Policy) and ICT policies.
For example to achieve broadband
pentration of 30% by the end of 2015,
following targets have been set in NBP:
To connect all the villages with the
broadband through community access
points.
To connect all the higher secondary,
secondary and government/MPO listed
educational institutions with the
broadband.
To connect all the cultural centres,
museums, post offices and archives to the
broadband network.
To bring all the union parishad offices
under the broadban network.
To bring all the farmers market under the
broadband network.
Definition of Broadband
Broadband is now commonly used to denote
fast speed data communication which
replaces conventional dial-up technologies.
Any speed equal to or above the usual speed
of internet is termed as Broadband.
Considering the situation of Bangladesh, NBP
2009 defined broadband as an always on
data/ internet connection that ensures a
minimum bandwidth of of 128 kbps subject to
its revision as and when necessary. This
minimum level of bandwidth shall be ensured
at the subscribers end.
Wireless Broadband by 4G Mobile
4G, short for fourth generation, is the fourth
generation of mobile telecommunication
technology succeeding 3G. A 4G system, in
addition to usual voice & othet services of 3G
system, provides mobile ultra-broadband
internet access, for example to laptops with
wireless modems, to smartphone, and to other
mobile devices. Conceivable applications
include amended mobile web access, IP
telephony, gaming services, high-definition
mobile TV, video conferencing, 3D television &
cloud computing.
Technical Specifications of 4G
The specifics of the 4G network include better
reception, with less dropped data, and faster
information exchanges. In March 2008, the
ITU-R specified a set of requirements for 4G
standards, named the International Mobile
Telecommunications Advanced
(IMT-Advanced) specifications. An
IMT-Advanced cellular system must fulfill the
following requirements:
* Sub-Divisional Engineer, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
38
Be based on an all-IP packet switched
network.
Have peak data rates of up to
approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility
such as mobile access and up to
approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility
such as normadic/local wireless access.
Be able to dynamically share and use the
network resources to support more
simultaneous users per cell.
Using scalable channel bandwidths of
5-20 MHz, optionally up to 40 MHz.
Have peak link spectral efficiency of 15
bit/s in the ownlink and 6.75 bit/s in the
uplink.
System spectral efficiency of up to 3
bit/s/Hz/cell in the downlink and 2.25
bit/s/Hz/cell for indoor usage.
Smooth handovers across heterogeneous
networks.
The ability to offer high quality of service
for next generation multimedia support.
Commercially Deployed 4G Mobiles
Two 4G candidate systems are commercially
deployed, though there is some debate
regarding their status:
(1) the Mobile WiMAX standard
(2) the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard.
Mobile WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access)
Its a wireless communications standard
ratified by WiMAX Forum. Features of Mobile
WiMAX:
Known as Mobile Broadband Wireless
Access (MBWA).
Offers peak data rates of 128 Mbit/s in
downlink and 56 Mbit/s in uplink over 20
MHz wide channels.
Provides a wireless alternative to cable
and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) for "last
mile" broadband access.
Provides data, telecommunications (VoIP)
and IPTV services.
Originally based on IEEE 802.16e-2005
which was revised, such as 802.16m-2011.
802.16e-2005 uses scalable Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiple Access
(OFDMA) Time Dvision Duplex (TDD).
802.16e-2005 brings multiple antenna
support through MIMO (Multiple Input
Multiple Output).
Its a long range system, covering many
kilometres, that uses licensed or
unlicensed spectrum to deliver
connection to a network.
Limited roaming service.
The worlds first commercial Mobile WiMAX
service was opened by KT in Seoul, South
Korea in June 2006. Sprint in USA has begun
using Mobile WiMAX as of 29 September 2008,
branding it as a 4G network. In Russia,
Belarus and Nicaragua WiMAX broadband
internet access is offered by a Russian
company and is also branded 4G, Yota.
Mobile WiMAX is not available for the
European market since April 2012.
LTE (Long Term Evolution)
Commonly marketed as 4G LTE, is a standard
for wireless data communications technology
and is part of the GSM evolutionary path,
following EDGE, UMTS, HSPA (HSDPA and
HSUPA combined) and HSPA Evolution
(HSPA+). It supports IP-based voice, data,
video and messaging traffic. The capacity
and speed of wireless data networks are
increased by use of new DSP (Digital Signal
Processing) techniques and modulations.
Network architecture is of IP-based. The
standard is developed by the 3GPP (3rd
Generation Partnership Project) and is
specified in its Release 8 document series, with
minor enhancements described in Release 9.

39
Features of LTE:
Theoritical peak speed: 100 Mbit/s in
download and 50 Mbit/s in upload if a 20
MHz channel is used.
Has the ability to manage fast-moving
mobiles and supports multi-cast and
broadcast streams.
Supports only packet switching with its
all-IP network. The IP-based network
architecture, called the Evolved Packet
Core (EPC) and designed to replace the
GPRS Core Network, supports seamless
handovers for both voice and data to cell
towers.
Physical radio interface was High Speed
OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), now
named Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio
Access (E-UTRA).
Support for both FDD and TDD
communication systems as well as
half-duplex FDD with the same radio
access technology.
Simplified architecture: The network side
of E-UTRAN is composed only of eNodeBs.
The eNodeB performs tasks similar to those
performed by the NodeBs and RNC
(Radio Network Controller) together in
UTRAN. eNodeBs are connected to each
other via the X2 interface, and they
connect to the packet switched (PS) core
network via the S1 interface.
Packet switched radio interface.
Support for inter-operation and
co-existence with legacy standards (e.g.,
GSM/EDGE, UMTS and CDMA2000). Users
can start a call or transfer of data in an
area using an LTE standard, and, should
coverage be unavailable, continue the
operation without any action on their part
using GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based UMTS.
Increased spectrum flexibility: 1.4 MHz, 3
MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz
wide cells are standardized.
Support for all frequency bands currently
used by IMT systems by ITU-R.
Use smart antenna arrays MIMO.

The world's first publicly available LTE service
was launched by TeliaSonera in Stockholm
(Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks
systems) and Oslo (Huawei system) on
December 14, 2009. As of November 2012,
the five publicly available LTE services in USA
were provided by (a) MetroPCS (b) Verizon
Wireless (c) AT&T Mobility, U.S. Cellular (d)
Sprint (e) T-Mobile US. Airtel launched the LTE
service in India in April 2012. T-Mobile Hungary
has offered commercial 4G LTE services since
1 January 2012. In South Korea, SK Telecom
and LG U+ have enabled access to LTE
service since 1 July 2011 for data devices. KT
Telecom completed the nationwide LTE
service by June 2012. In the UK, LTE service
launced by EE in October 2012 and by O2
and Vodafone in August 2013.
Adoption of LTE technology in the world as of
February 15, 2014.

Countries with commercial LTE service
Countries with commercial LTE network
deployment on-going or planned
Countries with LTE trial systems
(pre-commitment)
40
Commercial 4G Vs. True 4G- View of ITU-R
Although marketed as a 4G wireless service,
first-release versions of Mobile WiMAX and LTE
are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant.
However, due to marketing pressures and the
significant advancements that WiMAX, HSPA+
and LTE bring to the original 3G technologies,
ITU later decided that LTE together with the
aforementioned technologies can be called
4G technologies. Mobile WiMAX Release 2
(also known as WirelessMAN-Advanced)
standardized by IEEE 802.16m and LTE
Advanced (LTE-A) standardized by 3GPP are
IMT-Advanced compliant. And to differentiate
LTE Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced
from current 4G technologies, ITU has defined
them as "True 4G".
LTE Advanced- True 4G
LTE Advanced is a candidate for
IMT-Advanced standard, formally submitted
by 3GPP organization to ITU-T in the fall 2009.
Its not a new technology, but rather an
improvement on the existing LTE network.
Similar to the upgrade from WCDMA to
HSPA.
LTE and LTE-Advanced will also make use
of additional spectrums and multiplexing
to allow it to achieve higher data speeds.
Coordinated Multi-point Transmission will
allow more system capacity to help
handle the enhanced data speeds.
Release 10 of LTE (LTE Advanced) is expected
to achieve the IMT Advanced speeds.
Peak download: 1 Gbit/s
Peak upload: 500 Mbit/s
IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN
Advanced-True 4G
Its under development with the objective to
fulfill the IMT-Advanced criteria of 1 Gbit/s for
stationary reception and 100 Mbit/s for
mobile reception.
Present Broadband Scenario of Bangladesh
At this moment, three types of infrastructures
are being used in Bangladesh for providing
broadband internet services: (1) Fiber optic
cables (2) WiMAX (3) 3G Mobile Network.
Among them, Third Generation (3G) mobile
telecommunication network is being used for
making video calls, high speed internet
(UMTS, HSPA) and for many day-to-day
economic activities. 5 (five) GSM Mobile
phone operators are now providing 3G
services. For this, BTRC has issued 10 MHz
spectrum license to Teletalk and Grameen
Phone, 5 MHz each to Robi, Banglalink and
Airtel. On the other side, Qubee and
Banglalion are providing 4G Wireless
Broadband service using 4G WiMAX
technology. BTRC has assigned 35 MHz
frequency to each from 2.3GHz and 2.5 GHz
band. Recently, Banglalion has obtained the
permission from BTRC to deploy more
advanced TD-LTE (Time Division Long Term
Evolution) network with existing frequency to
provide Broadband Wireless Access services
nationwide. Through this technology,
Banglalion would be able to provide even
faster mobile broadband connectivity more
effectively. LTE would enable the customers
to enjoy blazing speed and more stable,
uninterrupted connectivity in both fixed and
on the go environment. Banglalion is
expecting to start offering LTE based services
from Mid 2014.
After awarding the WiMAX as well as the 3G
license, the internet penetration of the
country has increased significantly. At
present, the number of internet subscriber in
Bangladesh is about 37 million. 56 percent of
the district towns of Bangladesh are now
under wireless broadband network. Increase
of internet users is clear from the below table:
Table: Total number of Internet Subscribers in
Bangladesh in March 2013 & March 2014 (Source:
BTRC web site)
Category Subscribers (in thousands)
March 2013 March 2014
Mobile Internet 30099.166 35336.011
ISP + PSTN 1220.62 1228.02
WiMAX 481.559 301.73
Total 31801.345 36865.756
41
In the mean time, government has decided
to introduce mobile broadband (4G LTE)
service in the country through BTCL. For this a
project, financed by EDCF, Korea has been
taken naming Installation of Wireless
Broadband network for Digital Bangladesh
(4G, LTE). Aim is to provide blanket coverage
for broadband access. 3G will provide
broadband accessibility to mobile devices
(mobile hand set or Tablet), while LTE is for
broadband access for PCs or Laptops. For
extensive network coverage eNodeB BTS will
be installed at all metropolitan cities, District
HQ, Upazila and growth centers.
To increase internet penetration, BTRC has
lowered the bandwidth price after analyzing
the overall scenario and consulting with the
ministry. Lowering the price of bandwidth will
have effect on spreading the internet service
at the grass-root level and developing the
telecommunication infrastructure. But it has
also been observed that the cost of
establishing the infrastructure to reach the
internet to the people of remote areas of
Bangladesh is very high. If the infrastructure
cost can be reduced then it is possible to rip
the benefit of lowering the bandwidth price.
Prospect of 4G in Bangladesh
Since government has decided to make
Digital Bangladesh by 2021, hence mobile
broadband internet facility has to be
extended to all district headquarters, upozilla
headquarters and subsequently to important
union parishads. The bandwidth capacity
and availability have to be ensured all over
the country at a reasonable cost to
encourage the growth of internet,
e-commerce, e-health, ICT industries and
e-government (e-forms, e-procurement,
e-recruitment, e-results etc), transportation,
tourism, agriculture, environment etc. Since
4G provides very high speed internet, has
mobility and maintenance is comparatively
easier with respect to fixed high speed fibre
optic network, hence it can be used in all
important government and corporate offices,
educational institutions and libraries etc. It
can be used to improve the efficiency,
availability and reach of private and public
sector services in areas of health, education,
and government services.
Conclusion
When we use the slogan Digital
Bangladesh, then at first comes the question
of broadband internet. If anyone wants to
see the dream of Sonar Bangladesh without
broadband services in mass population level,
then it will be a wrong thinking. Because if we
consider the concept of Digital Bangladesh,
then broadband services will be the next
fundamental right of mass people of
Bangladesh after food, clothes and
accommodation. And its our idea that
except mobile network it will be not possible
for us to provide broadband services at all
location of our country within the next few
decades. Broadband is transforming the
peoples way of communicating, doing
business and accessing the information.
Considering further development of
Bangladesh in telecommunication and ICT
sector, there is a huge prospect for 4G mobile
broadband internet services. Proper
implementation and utilization of 3G & 4G
technology will pave the way towards
achieving the goal of Digital Bangladesh set
by Bangladesh government.
Sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_(Telecom
munication)
3. www.btrc.gov.bd
4. www.btcl.gov.bd
5. www.4gamericas.org/index.cfm
6. www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-4g-network
.htm
7. www.banglalionwimax.com
8. My writeup about 3G published in BUET87
Foundation Suvenior in 2012
42
43
Green ICT:
A Dynamic Measure for
Environmental Sustainability
Rownak Tahmina*
1. Introduction
Global warming, climate change and their
associated impact on the existence of
human civilization are crucial in the present
world. With the advent of development,
industrialization and its eventual energy
consumption are growing enormously with a
rate far beyond our expectation. This lead to
emission of GHG (Green House Gases) that is
primarily responsible for global warming and
climate change. In this process, the concept
of green technology is gaining its necessity for
environmental sustainability. Energy
preservation along with low carbon emission
has become compelling challenges for
industries and organizations. ICT plays an
integral role in reducing harmful
environmental effect of other industries.
Although ICT is deployed to green the
technology, as an industry, ICT itself is
responsible for significant adverse impact on
the environment. Wide application of online
services, social networking, e mailing and
other web based activities lead to extensive
deployment of cloud hosting that caters for
several data centers all around the globe.
These data centers are massive power user
and very often consume more power than
the cities they are located in. So data center
deployment decision is driven by availability
of cheap electrical power and or a natural
means of cooling. Recent studies found that
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from data
centers alone surpass emissions from many
individual countries (note that this does not
include CO2 emissions from other global ICT
infrastructure) (Yousif, 2009). Moreover, ICT
equipment contains toxic substances such as
lead and mercury, much of which enters the
environment as e waste. Diverse and
extensive footprint of ICT demands for
comprehensive efforts by researchers,
technologists, developers, consumers and
politicians for green and sustainable ICT. A
wide range of initiatives, like, deployment of
energy efficient resources and equipment,
involving virtualization and autonomic power
optimization, developing lower-voltage
equipment, increased integration
(system-on-a chip), power-aware ICT (both
hardware and software), and motivation of
end-user for energy conservation can ensure
green ICT. Using advanced cooling
technology and power generation
equipment along with adoption of physical
layout to reduce external/internal heat and
optimizing physical placement of resources
can improve the efficiency of ICT operation
to a greater extent.
2. The concept of Green ICT
Green ICT, or sustainable ICT, is a recently
emerged topic that addresses the role of ICT
for achieving Sustainable development goals.
Green ICT is the study and practice of
environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It
aims to make the overall impact of ICT, clear,
environmentally sustainable and positive
through decreasing resource intensity and
encouraging resource consuming lifestyles. To
San Murugesan, it includes designing,
manufacturing, using, and disposing of
computers, servers, and associated
subsystemssuch as monitors, printers, storage
devices, and networking and communications
systems efficiently and effectively with
minimal or no impact on the environment.
It is evident that ICT has the vast potential to
innovate climate safe technology for other
* Divisional Engineer, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
44
It is evident that ICT has the vast potential to
innovate climate safe technology for other
industries. But at present, the overwhelming
challenge of ICT sectors own emission needs
to be addressed. Innovations in green
solutions in telecommunication networks (e.g.
converged, flatter and highly integrated
network), energy preservation, smart cooling
technologies, software development for
power conservation and deployment of high
efficiency equipment contribute to
environment friendly green ICT. If such green
ICT can be combined with other technologies
to reduce their emission it can lead to
greener solutions. However, reducing carbon
emissions will require changes in lifestyle and
behavior, but changes in management
practices and policy initiatives can also have
a positive impact. Green ICT can help, either
directly, by reducing the ICT sectors own
energy requirements; or indirectly through
using ICTs for carbon displacement, or in a
systemic way, by providing the technology to
implement and monitor carbon reductions in
other economic sectors. For example,
studies show that monitoring and control
using ICT can reduce energy use in buildings
by up to 17 % and reduce carbon footprint in
transport logistics by up to 27 %. With smart
power networks it is possible to control
electricity consumption dynamically, resulting
in energy savings and more efficient
investments. Smart electricity meters which
provide consumers with information about
energy use can reduce consumption as well
as network operators energy losses.
3.1 ICT and environment
It is estimated that ICT as an industry
contributes to around 2% to 2.5% of GHG
emissions every year. Manufacturing of ICT
products, their use (energy use and cooling
method), disposal, all steps are associated
with massive carbon footprint and emission of
toxic material to the environment that are not
bio degradable. Moreover, the ICT sectors
emissions are expected to increase to nearly
double to about 4% by 2020 (SMART 2020
report, 2008).
ICT is changing its attribute rapidly and a wide
variety of gadgets are added for the
consumers. 2010 has been addressed by
many in ICT sector as Year of Cloud. Arrival
of iPad, growth in netbooks and other tablet
computers lead to extensive use of cloud
hosting technology. It accounts for massive
power consumptions through numerous
datacenters. Google is perhaps the most
famous cloud-based company to
demonstrate the potential of a cloud
platform to drive a hugely successful business
model. All of Googles signature products -
Gmail, Google Documents and Google Earth
- are delivered from the cloud.
Its ambitious project to create a digital library
will be entirely hosted by servers storing most
of the worlds published work, all in digitized
form (Greenpeace report, 2010). Millions of
consumers access the cloud to use social
networks, watch stream video, download
music, books, and check mail. Facebook,
Flickr and Picasa also involve clouds for
storing thousands of digital photos online.
3.2 Cloud Hosting and its impact on
environment
The term cloud, or cloud computing, used as
a metaphor for the internet, is based on an
infrastructure and business model whereby -
rather than being stored on users own device
- data, entertainment, news and other
products and services are delivered to users
device, in real time, from the internet. With
the growth of the cloud comes an increasing
demand for energy. Unfortunately, the cloud
is growing at a time when climate change
and reducing emission from energy use is a
paramount concern. Cloud computing
deploys data centers to cater massive
storage that consume tremendous amounts
of energy. The companies rarely seek for a
green power source to fuel these data
centers. For instance, Facebook, in 2010
commissioned a new data centre in Oregon
and committed to a power service provider
agreement with Pacific Corp, a utility that
gets the majority of its energy from coal-fired
power stations, the United States largest
source of greenhouse gas emissions [3].
Yahoo, however, choose to build a data
center outside Buffalo, New York, driven by a
hydro-electric power plant that dramatically
45
reduces its carbon footprint. So if truly green
cloud is to be provided, the cloud providers
must drive investments near renewable energy
sources. In addition, they must be involved in
setting the policies that will drive rapid
deployment of renewable electricity
generation economy-wide, and place greater
R&D into storage devices that will deliver
electricity from renewable sources 24/7.
3.3 Projection of Carbon footprint of ICT
industries
SMART 2020 Report issued by The Climate
Group and the Global e-Sustainability
Initiative (GeSI) in 2008, reveals that
PC ownership will quadruple between 2007
and 2020 to 4 billion devices, and emissions
will double over the same period, with
laptops overtaking desktops as the main
source of global ICT emissions (22%).
Mobile phone ownership will almost double
to nearly 5 billion accounts by 2020, but
emissions will only grow by 4%. Broadband
uptake will treble to almost 900 million
accounts over the same period, with
emissions doubling over the entire
telecoms infrastructure.
SMART report also predicts the carbon
footprint of ICT industries itself that is depicted
in table 1.
However, the ICT sector has high potential to
emission reductions five times the size of the
sectors own footprint, up to 7.8 GtCO2e, or
15% of total BAU (business as Usual) emissions
by 2020 (SMART 2020 report, 2008). The study
posits that innovation form the ICT sector,
combined with increased use of renewable
energy can put the world on a more
sustainable path and help keep global
temperature rise below 2C threshold [3].
4.1 Initiatives for green ICT
Initiatives for green ICT are comprehensive
efforts by ICT industry, environment preserving
agencies, different governments, and
International organizations, like, ITU.
Nevertheless, the consumer lifestyle should
also be green ICT compliant. Such initiative
first started far back in 1992 with energy star
logo. US Environment protection agency
started this voluntary labeling program to
promote and recognize energy efficiency in
computer monitors, climate control
equipment and other environment friendly
technologies. It yields widespread adoption
of sleep mode in consumer electronics.
Concurrently, the Swedish organization TCO
Development launched the TCO Certification
program to promote low magnetic and
electrical emissions from CRT-based
computer displays.
Murugesan, in 2008, devised four layouts to
address the adverse effect of computing on
environment: Green use, green disposal,
green design, and green manufacturing.
Green computing can develop solutions by
"aligning all IT processes and practices with
the core principles of sustainability, which are
to reduce, reuse, and recycle; and finding
innovative ways to use IT in business processes
to deliver sustainability benefits across the
enterprise and beyond"[1]. It should
incorporate end user satisfaction,
management restructuring, regulatory
compliance, and return on investment (ROI).
4.2 Industries to address green ICT
Various Industries came into operation for
greening the ICT. The leading industries in this
field are Climate Savers Computing Initiatives
(CSCI), The Green Electronics Council, The
Green Grid, Green Comm. Challenge,
Transaction Process Performance Council
Table 1: Projection of Carbon footprint of ICT industries
Emission
2007 (Mt CO
2
e)
Percentage
2007
Emission
2020 (Mt CO
2
e)
Percentage 2020
World 830 100% 1430 100%
Server farms/Data centers 116 14% 257 18%
Telecommunication
infrastructure and Devices
307 37% 358 25%
PCs and Peripherals 407 49% 815 57%
46
(TPC), Spec Power etc. Among them, CSCI,
established in 2007, aims to reduce the
electric power consumption of PCs in active
and inactive states. It provides a catalog of
green products from its member
organizations. WWF is also a member of the
computing initiatives. The Green Electronics
Council assists the purchase of greener
computing systems through Electronic
Product Environmental Assessment Tool
(EPEAT). Products are rated Gold, Silver, or,
Bronze, depending on the number of optional
criteria they meet to measure products
efficiency and sustainability attributes. The
Green Grid, a global consortium, founded in
2007, is dedicated to advancing energy
efficiency in data centers and business
computing ecosystems. Its main focus is
improving datacenter infrastructure
efficiency. The founding key companies of
green grid are AMD, APC, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel,
Microsoft, Sun Microsystems etc. Apart from
ICT companies green grid incorporates
hundreds of members including end-users
and governments organizations. SPEC Power
is the first industry standard benchmark to
measure the power consumption in relation
to performance for server-class computers.
4.3 Green Computing methods
Product longevity
Product longevity is central for green
computing. Product upgradability and
modularity along with prolong lifetime of
equipments reduces the adverse
environmental effect. For instance,
manufacturing a new PC contributes a
greater footprint than manufacturing a new
RAM. It is seen that the PC manufacturing
process accounts for seventy percent of the
natural resources used in the life cycle of a PC
(Gartner, 2009). So up gradation and
modularity, instead of complete replacement
of the equipment should be the primary focus.
Data center design
In 2010, between 1.1% and 1.5% of the worlds
total energy use was consumed by the data
centers. The U.S. Department of Energy
estimates that data center facilities consume
up to 100 to 200 times more energy than
standard office buildings. There is no
alternative to design energy efficient data
centers. The U.S. Department of Energy
identifies five primary areas for energy
efficient data centers:
Information technology (IT) systems
Environmental conditions
Air management
Cooling systems
Electrical systems
On-site electrical generation and
recycling of waste heat.
Emphasis should be given on space
utilization, software and deployment
optimization, actual location, configuration
and construction of the building for energy
efficient data center design. Larger server
centers should be located where land and
energy are inexpensive and are readily
available. Moreover, local availability of
renewable energy, climate that allows
outside air to be used for cooling, and
locating them in a place where the heat
produced can be used for other purposes are
key factors for environment friendly site
allocation. Data centers can potentially
improve their energy and space efficiency
through techniques such as storage
consolidation and virtualization. With the aid
of a self-styled ultra efficient evaporative
cooling technology, Google Inc. has been
able to reduce its energy consumption to 50%
of that of the industry average.
Algorithmic efficiency
Algorithmic efficiency determines the
amount of computer resources required for
any given computing functions. For instance,
switching from a slow (linear) search
algorithm to a fast (hashed or indexed)
search algorithm can reduce resource usage
substantially. A study by a physicist at
Harvard, estimated that the average Google
search released seven grams of carbon
dioxide (CO) (Fox news, 2009). Google,
however, argued that a typical search
produces only 0.2 grams of CO (official
Google blog, 2009).
Resource Allocation
Another effective way for increasing
efficiency is resource allocation. Allocation
47
Algorithms, for example, can be used to
route traffic to data centers where electricity
is less expansive or produced in a more
environment friendly way. However, this
technique does not reduce energy usage
rather cut down the energy cost of the
company or ensures utilization of
environment friendly energy sources.
Virtualizing
Computer virtualization refers to abstraction
of computer resources; a process where two
or more logical computer systems are run in
one set of physical hardware. So a system
administrator can integrate several physical
systems into virtual machines on one single,
powerful system thereby unplugging the
original hardware and reducing power and
cooling consumption.
Terminal servers
With terminal servers the users at the terminals
are connected to central server where all the
computing is performed but the user
experiences the operating system in the
terminal. It can be combined with thin client
that uses about one eighth of the energy of a
normal workstation thereby reducing energy
consumption and cost.
Power management
Reducing power usage is central for green
computing. The Advanced Configuration
and Power Interface (ACPI), an open industry
standard, allows a system to automatically
turn-off components such as monitors and
hard drives after set periods of inactivity. In
addition, a system may hibernate, when most
components, including the CPU and System
RAM, are turned off. Intel processor offers
Speed Step to regulate its voltages supplied
depending on the workload. This voltage
regulation is also called under volting that
allows the CPU to adjust its voltage supply
thereby reducing electricity consumption
and heat production.
5.1 Green Initiatives in Telecommunication
Networks
Apart from above techniques a more
integrated effort is required in the
telecommunication networks to reduce the
Carbon footprint of the ICT industries. It
requires combined drive by the vendors and
the telecommunication operators. Innovation
in green technology can be divided into two
parts: 1) Network Architecture level, and 2)
Network Element level. The first one refers to
optimize organization of network elements,
and the second one incorporates green
technology in equipment level, board level,
and chipset level. Hence, Network
Architecture innovation has the potential to
save 60%-80% power consumption. The
network elements, on the other hand must be
environmental friendly to support the network
Architecture level.

Figure1. Power Saving Innovations [2]
Power Saving and reduced energy
consumption are primary concerns of green
ICT. Network Architecture determines the
scale of network energy consumptions. To
optimize the network for reduced power
consumption, emphasis is given on three
levels of network:
Access Network: Innovative wireless access
architecture of C-RAN and green FTTx for
fixed broadband.
Core Network and Data centers: innovative
architecture for data centers for converged
core networks.
Transport Network: A converged and flatter
architecture for power saving.
5.2.1 Access Network green solutions
C-RAN for wireless network
Innovations
Network Deployment strategy with large
capacity, fewer site rooms can provide a
greener and lower cost network for operators
[2]. C-RAN for wireless network can be a very
48
effective technique for green innovation. It
includes centralized processing,
collaborative radio, real time cloud
computing infrastructure, and is
environmentally clean system. In C-RAN RRU
(Remote Radio Unit) is separated form BBU
(Baseband Unit). RRUs are naturally cooled
components that can be installed on
outdoor/rooftop/pole and they can be
connected to a set of BBUs in the central
office via CPRI interface over optical fiber. So
C-RAN architecture removes the requirement
of site rooms and associated A/C in BTS sites.
In addition, RRUs with high receiver sensitivity
deployed closer to the antenna can save
transmitter power thereby increasing the
capacity of C-RAN based BTS/NodeB.
Moreover BBU Pool offers converged network
with higher network capacity.

Figure 2: Typical C-RAN Deployment Topology
vs. Traditional RAN Mode [2]
FTTx : Green access innovation for
fixed network
Development and convergence of core
network demands for reduced access
network complexity. In this process, PSTN,
NGN and broadband access networks based
on DSLAMs have converged into an FTTx
network architecture that not only reduces
access network complexity and but also cost.
FTTx deploys larger capacity converged OLT
sites that require reduced number of
switches. Such Flatter network leads to
decreased energy consumption.
Figure 3: FTTx network for multi access network
convergence[2]
5.2.2 Converged Core Network and
Innovative Datacenter for power saving
Core network comprises a wide variety of
network elements and equipment for data
storage, service provision etc. So, converged,
energy efficient data centers to provide core
network functionality is the key element for
energy saving. Data centers with bladed and
virtualized IT accounts for lower server energy
consumption. In addition, innovation in cooling
system leads to further reduction of energy
usage. For instance, liquid cooling system with
the cooling system to be located as close as
possible to the main heat generation source,
and accurate winding that directs cool air to
the server heat generating parts, reduce
substantial energy usage.
5.2.3 Converged and Flatter Transport
Network for Power Saving
The traditional transport layer comprises core
layer, aggregation layer, and access layer.
Innovation in Green technology omits the
aggregation layer and the elements of core
layer are directly connected to access layer
thereby reducing the number of equipment
required. In this flatter network, Aggregation
equipment links, ports, routing and room
space is reduced considerably leading to a
power saving of as high as thirty percent.
Nonetheless, it reduces cooling requirement,
lessens network delay and jitter.
5.3 Green Technology in Network Elements
Network elements green technology involves
greening in three levels: equipment level,
board level, and chipset level.
49
5.3.1 Equipment level green solutions
With the popularity and huge demand of
wireless technology, mobile operators
experience tremendous energy need to
deploy different technologies
(GSM/WCDMA/LTE) with multiple frequency
resources (900m/1800m/2100m). SDR based
wireless solution is a green initiative that
supports multiple technologies and
frequencies in the same equipment platform.
Another prime way to reduce energy
consumption is to reduce number of base
stations, especially in low traffic cases, for
example, in rural areas. High sensitivity
receiver technology is a best solution in this
regard. In rural areas, a 3dB increase can
increase the coverage radius by 22%, which
means a 45% coverage increase [2]. It, in the
long run, reduces number of base station and
their associated energy consumption.
Traffic volume in telecommunication network
varies widely ranging from business hours to
non-busy hours. RNC equipment technology
can meet this criterion to optimize energy
consumption through automatic and
dynamic power control of equipment. Some
boards with RNC functionality goes to sleep
mode during low traffic volume and wakes
up in business hours.
Vendors introduce new equipment for base
stations that adopt a wide range of operating
temperature ranging from -10 to +55 . It
reduces the dependency on air-conditioning
thereby reducing energy consumption.
In the fixed networks, transition from copper
cable to fiber in the form of FTTx offers
extensive reduction of energy by increasing
more passive components in the network. This
equipment also utilizes dynamic power
control methods for reduced energy usage.
Advanced system architecture to reduce
redundancy, low power routers, effective
thermal design, introducing sub-regional
power supplies within equipment, and using
highly integrated equipment are additional
features of equipment green solutions. In
addition, introduction of fan-less dual layer
sub-rack architecture in equipment level
results in extensive power saving.
5.3.2 Board Level Green Solutions
To reduce the number of base stations, and
power usage, in the board level, the efficiency
of power amplifier is increased considerably.
Flexible resource allocation technique allows
provision of baseband pool where all boards
are controlled and monitored by the control
module. The more the number of boards are
on the pool the more power saving they
provide. In wireless networks, with the ease of
intelligent timeslot technology, during low
traffic all the active user time slots can be
consolidated to smaller number of timeslots
and unused timeslots are shut down. Board
density is increased by using more integrated
chipset that provides multiple functionality on
the same board. It reduces number of service
cards and power usage.
5.3.3 Chipset level green solutions
One challenge in increasing power amplifier
(PA) efficiency is that the efficiency is
maximized at full output power and declines
at lower outputs. But the equipment not
always runs on full output. Green dynamic
power technology is introduced that tracks
the real time workload and adjusts the PA
supply voltage accordingly. Thus efficiency is
optimized in lower outputs as well. Moreover,
green chip set are developed with energy
efficiency, high integration, sleep-mode
capability, and provision of multi voltage
operation for dynamic power control.
5.4 Green Solutions for Auxiliary facilities
Power efficiency in power transformer modules,
intelligent cooling system and high efficiency
environment friendly battery system along with
green energy are necessary for a complete
green Telecommunication network. The vendors
now stress on use of renewable energy in the
form of pure solar, hybrid solar and oil, hybrid
wind and solar energy solutions etc. These
energy schemes can be customized depending
on the availability of resources, and scale of
economy of the customer. Innovation is required
for green Battery systems as well. For instance,
Li-Iron batteries have many green advantages
over lead-acid batteries that are widely used in
traditional telecommunication networks. Li-Iron
Batteries are safer, more environment friendly,
and have higher working. temperatures.
6. Regulatory and Policy Initiatives for
Green ICT
It is evident that only technical efforts are not
sufficient for sustainable green ICT initiative. A
generic benchmark, universal solution, along
with regulatory and policy initiatives are
essential that requires comprehensive efforts
by the technologists, researchers, end-users,
telecommunication industries, environment
50
specialists, international organization and the
governments around the globe, especially,
from the developed countries responsible for
larger carbon footprint.
ITU as an International regulatory body takes
several measures for green solutions. It
deploys wide range of recommendation in
the form of green ICT standards and
supplements. For mobile terminals and other
handheld devices ITU recommends universal
Power adapters and charger solutions (ITU-T
L.1000). Almost all the smart phones and
tablets now have same USB chargers. It
reduces the number of power adapters and
chargers produced and recycled leading to
a green ICT solutions. Similarly, ITU
recommends for External Universal Power
Adapter solutions for stationary ICT devices
(ITU-T L.1001). Such universal devices widen
their application in more devices, enable
their reuse, and increase their lifetime. It
reduces the demand on raw materials and
limits the production of e-waste. In addition,
ITU provides information on recycling
procedure for rare metals of ICT goods. ITU
also recommends Direct Current (DC)
interface between the power feeding system
and ICT equipment connected to it. The
specified interface is operated from a DC
power source of up to 400 V to allow
increased power consumption and
equipment power density, in order to obtain
higher energy efficiency and reliability with
less material usage than using a lower
voltage such as -48 VDC or AC UPS power
feeding solutions (ITU-T L.1200). ITU suggests
best practices for green data centers and
energy efficiency metrics and measurement
methods for telecommunication equipment.
It also focuses on assessment of
environmental impact of ICT goods, networks,
services, projects, ICT in organizations, cities,
countries and group of countries. It also
provides methodology for assessment of such
environmental impact.
7. Conclusion
Green ICT is inevitable in the present climate
change scenario. The developed countries
with extensive technological growth are
associated with large carbon footprint.
Unfortunately, the developing countries
thriving for ICT penetration are mostly
affected by global warming. So it is the
primary responsibility of the developed
countries to reduce carbon footprint.
Invention and cost effective application of
climate safe ICT is an overwhelming
challenges for ICT experts. Fortunately,
Telecommunication and ICT industries have
started research and innovation for green ICT.
Moreover, ICT has the potential to reduce
carbon emission of other industries
substantially. ICT must be green first. If this
green ICT is applied to make other industries
green it will lead to a clean and green
environment. It is evident that environmental
sustainability is prime concern for the
development of mankind. With the growing
trend of technological advancement there is
no alternative to opt for green technology.
Green ICT is a prime concern to obtain green
technology. Only technological innovation is
not sufficient; Global policy framework to
deploy universal regulation and benchmark is
a crying need. In addition, the end-users must
sensitize their adverse impact on environment
through use of ICT. On the other hand, Green
ICT must be economically viable for practical
application. Awareness generation and
government stimulus can play a vital role in
this regard. So an integrated effort is
necessary by the researchers, technologists,
environment specialists, International bodies,
and governments to meet this global need.
References:
1. Donnellan, Brian and Sheridan, Charles
and Curry, Edward (JanFeb 2011). "A
Capability Maturity Framework for
Sustainable Information and
Communication Technology". IEEE IT
Professional 13 (1): 3340.
2. ZTE Green Technology Innovations White
paper, ZTE Corporations, 2011.
3. Make It Green-Cloud Computing and its
Contribution to Climate Change,
Greenpeace International, March, 2010.
4. http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/climatechange/
Pages/standards.aspx
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_computing
51
52
Technology Assessment (TA):
Importance, Surroundings, Process,
and the Application Perspective in Bangladesh
A.K.M. Golam Baharul*
1.0 Introduction
Technology is the human activity that
changes the material world around us to
satisfy our needs. The ability to apply
technological methods separates men from
other animals. Technology is closely related to
science and engineering. Science deals with
humans understanding of real world around
them- the interesting properties of space,
matter, energy and their interactions.
Engineering is the application of objective
knowledge to the creation of plans, designs
and means for achieving desired objectives.
Technology deals with the tools and
techniques for carrying out the plans.
It has long been recognized that the
adoption of modern technology in various
sectors of economy is the key to economic
progress and national development. The
major objectives of technology planning are
to identify or develop right kind of
technologies and apply them in productive
activities. Accomplishment of the objective of
course, requires knowledge about the
strength, weakness and implications of
technologies in various sectors of
development. This means that technology
assessment is an important first step towards
disciplining the technological initiative.
2.0 Special features and basic component
of Technology
World is becoming increasingly
interdependent because of Technological
advancement. We cannot set technological
clock back as many changes are irreversible.
But we have to remember that uncontrolled
technological development is suicidal.
Special features of Technology are:
a) Technology is man-made.
b) It is produced in R&D cell of both private
and public sectors.
c) There is a price of a Technology. It is not
given away free.
d) Technology is a marketable commodity, it
has market value.
e) Its price depends on bargaining strength.
f) It is a new form of currency.
g) It provides comparative advantage.
For developing countries like Bangladesh, a
sustained effort for a controlled technological
development & systematic application is
necessary. Judicious management of tech to
maximize benefits and minimize negative
effects is required. The Basic Components of
Technology are:
1) Techno ware: Equipment, machinery,
tools, structures, etc.
2) Human ware: Knowledge, skill, creativity,
expertise, proficiency, experience, etc
3) Info ware: Theories, relations, designs,
specification, blue print, manual,
Population, Documents, blue-print, etc.
4) Orgaware: Management practices,
linkages, consulting & design firms, legal
framework etc.
* Divisional Engineer, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
53

Fig1: Four Basic Components of Technology.
3.0 Technology Assessment
Technology assessment (TA) is a scientific,
interactive and communicative process that
aims to contribute to the formation of public
and political opinion on societal aspects of
science and technology. Technology
assessment was originally conceived of as an
analytic activity, aimed at providing decision
makers with an objective analysis of effects of
a technology. Early in the history of
technology assessment, it became clear that
assessment projects must involve multiple
perspectives. The main concept of
Technology assessment:
TA is a Policy research which provides a
comprehensive evaluation of tech to
decision makers. It identifies the policy
issues; assess the consequences of
alternative causes of action & presents
findings as guidelines for decision making.
TA can be defined as both an intellectual
and socio-political process of exploring,
evaluating & selecting options made
possible by technology including those
technologies which will actually be
developed, applied and diffused.
TA consists of ascertaining the trend of
technological change & the resulting
implications for all relevant sectors of
society, systematically evaluating the
consequences which may be direct and
indirect, intended and unintended,
beneficial and adverse of such
developments in terms of their probability,
severity, and distribution.

Figure 2: Positioning Technology Assessment
within the policy-making/
technology Development process.
4.0 Main Characteristics of the TA
Technology Assessment is a Multi-criteria
decision-making (MCDM) problem which is a
sub-discipline of operations research that
explicitly considers multiple criteria in
decision-making environments. In TA there
are typically multiple conflicting criteria that
need to be evaluated in making decisions.
The characteristic of TA:
(a) It includes multi-variant analysis: Many
variables with different units of measure
are considered.
(b) It concerned with multi-order impacts:
Direct as well as indirect impacts are
considered.

54
(c) It Incorporates multi-constituency effects:
Needs of a wide range of social
groups are considered.
(d) It implies multi-disciplinary approach: All
aspects of human life are considered.
(e) It demands multi-timeframe balancing:
Both short terms wants and long term
needs are considered.
(f) It Requires multi-criteria optimization: Both
maximum of positive and minimum of
negative effects are considered.
(g) It involves dynamic features: Continuous
interaction between technology and
surroundings are considered.
5.0 Major Purposes of TA for Developing
Countries
Developing countries is the importer or buyer
of Technology and the developed countries is
the exporter or seller of Technology. So, TA is
very much important for Developing/LDC
countries because of:
(1) Evaluation of appropriateness of
technologies for transfer and adaptation:
Identify existing technology (available in
developed countries) that are somewhat
compatible and have scope for
adaptation within the surrounding in
developing countries.
(2) Selection of technologies for
development: Identify those existing
indigenous or existing exogenous
technologies for development that are
consistent with national goals.
(3) Control of inappropriate technologies for
the protection of environment: Identify
corrective measures for all local & imported
technology for protection of environment.
6.0 Seven Surroundings of Technology
Assessment
For Technology Assessment the following
seven Factors must have to be considered for
selecting the Appropriate Technology (AP):
1) Technological Factors: Technical utility
(capability; reliability; efficiency),Options
of technology (flexibility; scale),Availability
of infrastructure (support; services).
(2) Economic Factors: Economic feasibility
(cost-benefit), Improvement in
productivity (capital; resources), Market
potentials (size; elasticity).
(3) Resource Factors: Availability of material
and energy sources, Availability of financial
resources, Availability of skilled manpower.
4) Environmental Factors:-Impact on
physical environment (air, water; land),
Impact on living conditions (comfort;
noise), Impact on life (safety; health).
(5) Population Factors: Growth of population
(rate; life expectancy),Level of education
(literacy rate),Labour characteristics
(unemployment; structure).
(6) Socio-Cultural Factors: Impact on
individual (life quality), Impact on society
(values), Compatibility with existing culture.
(7) Politico-Legal Factors: Political
acceptability, Mass need satisfaction,
Compatibility with institutions and policies.

Figure 3: Interaction of Technology with
Human Surroundings
55
7.0 The Process of Technology Assessment
There are several steps for the Technology
Assessment. The steps may be identified as:
Step-1: Identification of the problem:
Stock-taking of existing situation and
regulations, determination of time horizon
and level of analysis, setting boundaries and
objectives.
Step-2: Description of alternatives being
assessed: Inventory of relevant technological
alternatives, current state-of-the-art
Technology and Technological forecasting.
Step-3: Establishment of assessment Factors:
Description of relevant factors, identification
of variables and types of effects, classification
of variables (change with different alternatives).
Step-4: Evaluation of expected effect:
Analysis and measurement of effects,
representation of various effects, and
integration of all expected effects.
Step-5: Formulation of action options:
Identification of all possible action options,
development of programs for action, analysis
of consequence for each option.
Step-6: Choice of suitable action: Influence of
various decision makers, justification of the
final choice, and choice of the most suitable
alternative.

Figure4: The Overall Assessment and
Follow-up Plan of TA
8.0 Application of TA in Bangladesh:
As a developing/LDC country, Bangladesh
can take the advantages of late starter
situation of Technology and can avoid
mistakes of predecessor. But it is only possible
when TA will be done properly before taking
any project. The surroundings and the process
which is mentioned above are completely
ignored in most of the cases before taking
any project in Bangladesh. This is happened
due to some real and practical constraints of
economic, social and political (National and
International) situation. But Bangladesh has to
come out from these hurdles for the
development of indigenous Technology and
the adaptation of Technology by our
Engineers, Scientists and Technologist.

To attain the goals of becoming middle
income country of Bangladesh by 2021, the
Technological capability must have to be
attained and it is possible to adopt the
technology from developing country by
proper Technology Assessment. Otherwise
present uncontrolled technological
development will be suicidal for Bangladesh.
If the present uncontrolled situation prevails,
gap between the goals (2021) will be higher
and higher which leads to Bangladesh as a
big Technology buyer but no Technology
adaptation and diffusion.
References:
1) Kamal Uddin,M, Management of
Technology, IAT,BUET.
2) Web Site.
56
Empowering Farmers
Through Connecting to Market
Through ICT in Bangladesh
Mohammad Taherul Islam*
Brief Description
Accounting for 18.87% of the GDP, agriculture
and rural economy play a strategic role in
accelerating economic growth and
alleviating poverty in Bangladesh. When
forward and backward linkages are taken
into account, the agriculture and agribusiness
contribution to GDP is estimated at about
35%. In a country, where 60% of the workforce
is absorbed by agriculture, farmers needs
come as a priority when envisioning the
countrys future.
e-Agriculture is an emerging field where
Information and Communication
technologies or ICTs (Radio, TV, Cell Phone,
PDAs, PCs) can help farmers boost
productivity by giving them access to vital
information, such as weather forecasts, crop
advice and market pricing, empower them
by establishing linkages with policy makers
and promote growth or agri-businesses and
rural enterprises by connecting the country
with the international market.
The MLP concept has been developed with
the vision of utilizing the benefits of ICT and
the huge opportunities that internet provides
as a development enabler for rural people.
The Market Linkage Program (MLP) is online
information and trading portal for agricultural
products. Access to market (information and
transaction) for the farmers is a major
constraint in Bangladesh which causes
financial loss and hinders improvement in
livelihood process. The core purpose of MLP is
to address the needs of farmers for marketing
(selling) their produces at fair price and also
to provide updated price and market
information to them. The platform will act
simultaneously as a virtual market place for
actors in the value chain including farmers,
local traders, wholesale/retail traders, bulk
buyers and also physical service facilities
through telecentres / information centres.
* Assistant Divisional Engineer, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
BROADBAND STRATEGY of BTCL
Reach the Unreachable
Nationwide Optical Fibre Connectivity Plan.
Infographics:
Md. Aminul Hassan
GM, DTR (North), BTCL, Gulshan, Dhaka

District HQ.
Out of 64 District HQs 57 have optical fibre connectivity. 7 District
HQs, namely Sunamganj, Manikganj, Chapai-Nawabganj, Shariatpur,
Barguna, Patuakhali and Bhola are yet to be connected. These seven
will be connected through the ongoing TND project. Island Bhola will
be connected through microwave link at STM 1 level.
1 Mbps
On Dec, 2012. BTRC has set
1 Mbps as the new standard
for broadband internet
speed an improvement
from the 128 Kbps .
200 Gbps
BSCCL has increased its
bandwidth capacity from
44 Gbps (2010-11) to 200 GBPS,
(2012-13). In the same period
utilization has
increased from 21.46 Gbps
39 GBPS.
Voice, Data and Multimedia over single
connection is ready to cater new sets of
of telecom services at Mirpur DOHS,
Dhaka. Where subscribers can enjoy
connectivity at 20 Mbps or higher speed
at home or SOHO. Services like
HDTV, Video on Demand, IP TV, Online
Gaming, Video Conference, Distant
Learnng, Telemedicine can be
provided. All these are possible
due to deployment of Fibre
at home.
3 G
Teletalk has launched 3g
services in 2012.
Along with broadband
internet access, subscriber can
enjoy other cutting edge mobile
services. Initial capacity of
3G subscribers
is 17.5 lakh.
Broadband Projects
8000
tk / Mbps/month
BTRC has reduced the
price from 27000
in 2007 to 8000 in 2012
Triple Play
National
Broadband Policy 2009
Last mile solution is crucial for maintaining
Quality of Service for all PSTN operators. All copper OSP is
vulnarable to natural disaster, development work and theft.
BTCL is moving in phases from all copper to all optical fibre network
to mitigate such risk. All new projects are putting due emphasis on
building fibre based network. Such as RODTS and TND Projects.
Moreover BTCL will deploy Broadband Wireless Access
Network to provide blanket coverage in whole Bangladesh to
ensure universal access. EDCF loan (Korean) agreement is
underway. This will deploy cutting edge 4G LTE technology.
Which is faster than prevalent 3G technology.
Options for Last Mile.
BTCL provides broadband internet service
(upto 2 Mbps) through its legacy copper access
network using ADSL technology in 42 district
cities and 12 upazila towns. Installed
capacity is 47,000 ports, 13,000
connected. RODTS Project is in last
phase, which will add 35000 new
ADSL ports .
BTCL provides broadband data connectivity
(up to 2mbps) over copper access network using
DDN technology.
BTCL is providing broadband internet service and
VPN to some big corporate/institutional
/government users over point to point fiber line
(FTTx) through Metro-Ethernet switch.
Subscribers at present includes all the
divisional and district
commissioner offices.
Data
Connectivity
BTCL Broadband
Services
Wireless Broadband
Service
Upazilla HQ.
Optic Fiber Cable Network
Development at Upazilla Level
(290 Upazilla).
Installation of NGN (IMS) based
Telecommunication Network for
Digital Bangladesh (NTN).
Government initiatives
126 Upazilla Hqs. including 53 Upazilla Hqs. at District Hqs. have optical fiber connectivity. 348 Upazilla
Hqs. will be connected through ongoing projects, namely TNDP and 290 Upazilla` Projects.
Rest 13 Upazilla Hqs. will be connected in the future through `1000 Union (Remote) Project`. BTCL is reaching
all Upazilla Hqs. to pursue National Broadband Policy, despite apparent lack of business viability.
Union Council Hq.
Villages are the center of all economic and social activity. Govt. vows to connect rural
mass to ensure broadband access and mitigate digital divide. 1000 Union
Project` has already been started. Remote
1000 union project is also under
active consideration. BTCL has
already implemented
108 Union Project.
Salient features :
To make reliable broadband connection available to the citizen and
organizations at a reasonable cost.
To bring all the Ministries, Departments, Divisions, attached
Departments and Corporation within the Broadband Network Coverage.
To bring at least half of the Educational and Government
institutes at District and Upazilla level within the Broadband Coverage..
To bring all the villages within the Broadband
Coverage through Community Access
Points by 2015.
To connect all the Government Schools,
Union Parishad Buildings, Post Offices,
local Agricultural Markets etc.
through Broadband Coverage by 2015.
A2I
4,547 Union Information
Centres or One-stop service
outlets have been established in
all Union Parishads,
under Access to
Information (A2I)
Programme`.
Broadband
Internet
Replacement of Old Digital
Telephone System of Dhaka city
(RODTS/171 KL).
Telecommunication Network
Development Project (TNDP).
Optic Fiber Cable network Development
in 1000 Unions Parishad.
Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications & Information Technology has
taken lot of people oriented policy decisions recently to achieve Digital Bangladesh.
BTCL has taken several development projects to expand its broadband services
countrywide. Three of such projects are now under implementation and two more are
in the pipeline. BTCL is also procuring Dhaka-Cox`s Bazar transmission link with
capacity of 200 Gbps.
57

Fig 1: Market Linkage Program (MLP) Model
Through this service sellers will be able to sell
their goods without going to the physical
market. Likewise, buyers will be able to search
for their desired items available from all over
the country over the internet. The scope of the
service includes online negotiation and
ordering system for agro commodities along
with secure mobile payment mechanism built
within the system. Mobile based instructions will
go to the bank system for online fund transfer.
Agents will work as the human interface
between sellers and buyers in order to ensure
smooth delivery of goods form end to end.
Sellers will be able to withdraw money at any
time from ATM booths, banks, cash-out agents
or POS outlets. The platform will be accessible
from multiple access points such as
Community Information Centers (CICs), mobile
phones or any point with internet connectivity
which will make it more convenient for users.
Other than online trading opportunity, MLP will
also provide various value added services
such as market information, price information,
database of various chain actors, Quality
Control, demand-supply data etc.
Objectives
The MLP is to remove trade barriers in the
existing agriculture value chain in
Bangladesh. The broad objectives of
empowering farmers through connecting to
market through ICT in Bangladesh are:
l. Fostering rural prosperity and grassroots
level development by empowering farmers
with information, knowledge and training;
ll. Developing a decentralized, localized
and non-human based extension
program with proper management and
efficient delivery;
lll. Promoting, supporting and enhancing
rural farm and non-farm enterprises;
lV. Mainstreaming ICT in the areas of
agricultural research, development,
education, extension and training;
V. Empowering farmers through creating
opportunity to access wider markets by
utilizing the mobile phone, internet and
other ICT tools as a development enabler;
Vl. Facilitate framers an alternative market
channel to address their demands for
selling their produces in fair prices;
Vll. Facilitate various value added services for
agro-products;
Vlll. Establish e-trading system in
agro-commodity trading in Bangladesh;
lX. Reverse the supply driven market system
into a demand driven one.
ICT Pathways to Poverty Reduction as
Empowering Like Farmers Model

With that in mind, e-Agriculture Vision 2025
envisages a Bangladesh where:
The village population would still be
heavily dependent on agriculture for
income and employment, but
productivity would have increased
through diversification as farms apply
productivity-enhancing technologies and
environmentally-friendly technologies.
58
Commercialization and Agri-business
would be less vulnerable to agronomic
and market risks.
The number of rural non-farm
(backward/forward linkage) enterprises
would grow, though most would remain
small. Most enterprises may be in trading
and services with small-scale
manufacturing to strengthen backward
and forward linkages to agriculture locally.
Farmers would be economically active,
nationally organized, and socially conscious
and have a voice in policy formulation.
Priority Areas for Vision Implementation of
Empowering Farmers
In order to implement the vision, this
document identifies seven priority areas and
explores role of ICT.
1. Human resource development
New and emerging technologies such as
those involving integrated crop management
and improved nutrient balance are
increasingly becoming complex and location
specific. Literacy lessons for farmers, combined
with computer courses can facilitate
agricultural education and training. ICT can
also play a vital role in women empowerment.
Telecentres can create jobs for women and
promote women-run enterprises through
which, they can earn money by offering their
information and communication services to
fellow community members.
2. Research and Development
Use of ICT in research and development relate
more to the applications and uses to which
the ICTs are put, the ways they are organized
and the ways in which ICTs are embedded in
the wider policy, research and outreach work
of research institutes. It is important to devise
appropriate frameworks that agricultural
research institutes in Bangladesh can use to
ensure that they most effectively apply ICTs
and knowledge to achieve their goals and
objectives. Developing a shared vision,
identify key information and knowledge
processes and devising organizational
structures are likely to be critical elements in
such strategic frameworks.
3. Rural Finance
ICT innovations such as a personal computer
connected to the internet, an automated
teller machine (ATM), a point-of-sale (POS)
device located at a local retail or postal
outlet may be less expensive to establish than
branches located in rural areas and more
convenient for customers. The proliferation of
mobile services in Bangladesh has created a
unique opportunity to provide financial
services over the mobile network (ex:
flexiload). Remote mobile loan payments can
be initiated using short message service (SMS),
also known as text messaging, and wireless
application protocol (WAP) technologies.
4. Extension Service
Extension organizations have a key role in
brokering between communication
technologies, providers of those technologies
and services, and the client groups they serve.
Extent workers, equipped with ICTs add
tremendous strength to already existing wide
rage of service. Some of those strengths include:
o A new range of additional media that can
be part of the communication for
development mix of traditional and/or
appropriate media.
ll. Developing a decentralized, localized
and non-human based extension
program with proper management and
efficient delivery;
lll. Promoting, supporting and enhancing
rural farm and non-farm enterprises;
lV. Mainstreaming ICT in the areas of
agricultural research, development,
education, extension and training;
V. Empowering farmers through creating
opportunity to access wider markets by
utilizing the mobile phone, internet and
other ICT tools as a development enabler;
Vl. Facilitate framers an alternative market
channel to address their demands for
selling their produces in fair prices;
Vll. Facilitate various value added services for
agro-products;
Vlll. Establish e-trading system in
agro-commodity trading in Bangladesh;
lX. Reverse the supply driven market system
into a demand driven one.
ICT Pathways to Poverty Reduction as
Empowering Like Farmers Model

With that in mind, e-Agriculture Vision 2025
envisages a Bangladesh where:
The village population would still be
heavily dependent on agriculture for
income and employment, but
productivity would have increased
through diversification as farms apply
productivity-enhancing technologies and
environmentally-friendly technologies.
59
o Bottom up articulation and sharing of
information on needs and local knowledge;
o Increased efficiency in use of development
resources because information is more
widely accessible;
o Less duplication of activities
o Rapid speed of communication - locally,
nationally and globally
o Reduced communication costs in
comparison to other available
communication choices
5. Agribusiness
ICT can serve to bridge the digital divide and
provide relevant business and market
information to rural areas to reduce their isolation
and foster new income-generating activities in
the agribusiness and other non-farm activities by
improving communication linkages between
growers, processors and retailers for a better
transfer of knowledge and technology,
developing forecasting of market prices and
disseminating prices to producers etc. Individuals
or groups in geographically based ICT enabled
communities may find themselves connected to
one or more different forms of online
communities. Online participation can lead to
greater face-to-face participation with the
geographic community. Relationships therefore
form in both directions, with one potentially
increasing the livelihood of the other. Such
interactions have implications for the evolution of
nature service delivery by e-Government and
the growth of new agribusiness products to
consumers and communities.
6. Natural Disaster
The consequences of natural and man-made
disasters and the vulnerabilities to which
populations are exposed can be mitigated if
they are targeted proactively. Information
and communications technology (ICT) can
potentially play a pivotal role in disaster
prevention, mitigation and management.
Remote sensing for early warning is made
possible by various available technologies,
including telecommunication satellites, radar,
telemetry and meteorology. ICT encompasses
both traditional media (radio, television) as well
as new media (cell broadcasting, Internet,
satellite radio), all of which can play a major
role in educating the public on the risks of a
potential or impending disaster. Furthermore,
ICT plays a critical role in facilitating the
reconstruction process and in coordinating the
return of those displaced by disasters to their
original homes and communities.
7. Value and Promote Social Capital
Through access and effective use of ICT
individuals and communities have a greater
opportunity for engagement with others,
broadening their understandings and building
bonding, bridging and linking capital. Greater
participation in communities is assumed to
contribute to stronger social capital within the
community at the local, state, national and
global levels and hence contributes to
improved economic and social outcomes.
Enabling Policy Environment
Although the National Agriculture Policy of
Bangladesh does not currently include a
national integrated ICT strategy, most entities,
however, within the Ministry of Agriculture
and Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock
(Training, Research and Development) have
their own vision, strategy for ICT. At the top
level, the importance of ICT development is
recognized and supported. In order to put an
e-Agriculture enabling environment in place,
the development and implementation of
various e-Policies and e-Strategies should
always remain supreme in the processes.
These policies should:
o Build capacity of rural stakeholders and
extension workers in use and application of ICT
o Enhance farmers and producers access
to market information and information on
farming techniques and practices.
60
o Enhance farmers access to rural finance
thus promote rural enterprises.
o Improve dissemination of and access to
scientific and technical information.
o Enhance access to statistics and other
types of information policy and
decision-making.
o Develop virtual communities/networks for
information and knowledge exchange
between rural stakeholders, as well as for
their empowerment through participation.
o Encourage Pubic-Private-Partnership
especially in the areas of human resource
development, extension and agribusiness
promotion.
Priority Actions
A vision reflects peoples aspirations, their
potential for growth and development, and
lays out the efforts needed to fulfill the vision.
Therefore, in order to attain the full potential of
a nation that is depicted in the vision we need
to prioritize actions which would mobilize
initiatives from different levels of public and
private sectors in a focused manner
Community-Based Information Center
Leverage the existing infrastructure of Union
Parishad, IPM/ICM clubs and/or other COBs
to set up integrated digital information
centers for farmers. These community-based
information centers would provide a platform
for local public and private organizations that
are working in the field of agriculture to come
together and offer coordinated support and
service to the agriculture community. This
could also be a venue for male and female,
young and old farmers, fishermen and
livestock owners to interact and lean
together. Although seemingly negligible,
these would afford the villages a voice that
can be heard at a distance, and if sustained,
carry prospects for altering previous
relationships with extension workers,
traditional communication systems and
modes of learning that are usually provided
top-down. Within the AICC network, farmers
from the different pilot sites would be able to
share indigenous information, serve as each
others experts and learn from each other.
Some of the perceived benefits farmers could
receive through an AICC are listed below.
Farmers Call Centre
Establish call centres to address the need of
the farming community making use of
increased tele-density and Information
Technology. Call centers will provide
professional help, information and real-time
solution available to farmers at their doorstep,
on a subsidized or toll-free telephone number.
The content/expert advice may be provided
by Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Fisheries
and Livestock while the physical infrastructure
of the call centers may be set up in
partnership with private sector players.
Radio/TV Programs
Improve quality of existing radio and tv
agriculture related shows and introduce new
programs in the form of talk shows, farmers
phone-in programs in the public
channels/stations. Strengthening partnership
with private channels to procure agriculture
related programs and broadcast using public
mediums will also be initiated. Coordination
shall be improved to motivate and strengthen
performance of various media personnel
including news reporters, producers, anchors,
working in the field of agriculture
Agriculture Database
Create a electronic database, which
compiles and collates the actual location
specific need of farmers and classifies it in an
intelligent format for use by decision makers,
researchers, traders and industrialists. The
database will also trap the traditional
knowledge systems available with the
farming community to enrich the knowledge
bank in agricultural sector and their
application in the farmers fields.
Agriculture Encyclopedia
Develop a dynamic e-Agriculture
encyclopedia for use by farmers, agriculture
extension workers, agro-input dealers and
various other stakeholders, which will also
provide an opportunity for the scholars and
agriculture scientists to play a dynamic role in
the transformation of Bangladeshi agriculture
to a sustainable one.
61
Coordination
Ensure better coordination amongst service
agencies and research organizations within
Ministry of Agriculture. Develop methods to
monitor and evaluate effectiveness and
efficiency of extension service and all layers
of information flow through ICT.
Expected Results
The goal of the Market Linkage Program is to
integrate the existing agro-value chain actors
and make them a part of an online based
service platform. The direct benefits
expected from these empowering farmers
through connecting to market through ICT in
Bangladesh are:
l. Most of farmers will be directly and
indirectly benefited through the Market
Linkage Program;
ll. An inclusive and efficient online platform
for direct upstream sales opportunity for
farmers and other value chain actors;
lll. Online database/portfolio of local
agro-value chain actors;
lV. Develop a process to ensure easy access
to price information through which sellers
will be able to compare different market
prices and increase their bargaining
capacity;
V. Increase internet uptake and ICT enabled
services in rural areas;
Vl. Demand-supply data created which will
help forecasting and integrated planning
of production and harvesting;
Vll. Create an online network of producers
and buyers and other stakeholders all over
the country;
Vlll. MLP grading system established to ensure
quality products;
lX. Involving intermediaries in MLP with
defined value-addition role will bring
transparencies and reduce their influences
on price and procurement process.
X. Financial institutions involved and create
new opportunities for various financial
services for agro value chain actors,
specially farmers;
Xl. Create new employment and business
opportunities such as, MLP agents,
business promoter, online trading
centres etc.;
Xll. Awareness building among the
stakeholders including other telecom
operators, bulk buyers and value chain
actors on using ICT enabled trading
services;
References
l. ht t p: //www. i dr c. ca/EW/Resour ces/
Publications/Openbook/539-7/Index.html
2. http://www.itu.int/en/ITUD/Conferences/
connect/AsiaPacific/Documents/Projects
_publication_CASP_2013-e.pdf
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_
and_communication_technologies_for_d
evelopment
4. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/E-Commerce
_and_E-Business/E- Commerce in_
Developing_ Countries
5. http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i3074e/i3
074e00.pdf
6. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS),
October, 2013
7. Communications, IEEE Transaction on
Volume 62 Issue 4, December, 2013
8. Frieden, R. (2013). ITU World Telecom 2013
report. Info, 9(4), 81-83
62
No matter how much skill in ICT freelancing
you are, there is always room to improve. In
fact, there is an imperative to improve Styles,
Trends, Technology --all are constantly
evolving. You have got to keep pace with the
change by embracing the learning as part of
your freelance career investment. So,
improve skill and increase your earnings.
WITHOUT SKILL YOU CAN NOT DO QUALITY
WORK
If you have not enough skills in freelancing,
you can not do quality work. We think that
freelancing is one of the very best ways to
make a bit of money. For example, a college
or university student or unemployed who is
out of work but has access to the internet can
make decent money by doing online
freelancing. He/She who is already working as
freelancer has an opportunity to learn more
about the work. So that he/she can improve
skills over the internet.
FREELANCERS STATUS OF BANGLADESH
Example of freelancing platform:
www.odesk.com
www.freelancer.com
www.elance.com
www.99design.com

Fig.: How many freelancers working from
Bangladesh?
Bangladesh is one of the fastest progressive
country of the world where the Youths are
changing the lifestyle and the society. They
Some Facts on Freelancing
Khan Mohummad Kaisar*
Md. Amirul Islam**
*Assistant Divisional Engineer, BTCL, Joint Secretary, Bangladesh Computer Society.
** Rangpursoft
63
Fig.: How many freelancers working from
Bangladesh?
Bangladesh is one of the fastest progressive
country of the world where the Youths are
changing the lifestyle and the society. They
fight with the poverty, they fight with the
unemployment problem. They don't get any
extra advantages while working Online.
Because the govt is did not provide ICT
infrastructure and low-cost internet
bandwidth till date. Though there are not
enough facilities, these youths are fighting
with other people of the world to snatch the
best jobs from the outsourcing marketplace.
According to BASIS report 2013, there are
more than 1 Lac Bangladeshi Freelancers are
doing Outsourcing jobs across the globe. It is
decreasing the unemployment problem.
Definitely this ICT freelancing sector is
transforming Bangladesh to meet the vision
2021 of the government. Accumulating all of
the money that freelancers are earning;
Bangladeshi freelancers are earning about 1
crore BDT per day from various outsourcing
marketplaces.(sources: oDesk & eLance)
Comparison with other country:
Bangladesh India Indonesia Singapore Philippines
15% 35% 10% 10% 30%
Fig.: Source- Odesk
Bangladesh began developing an
outsourcing sector in 2004 and it is now worth
around $120 million. The country exported
some $36 million worth of IT services last year
(Source: BASIS). The government has
declared developing the IT outsourcing
industry to be a key priority, which fits with
their ongoing campaign to create a Digital
Bangladesh by 2021.
How many male and female working from
Bangladesh?
Different social issues, including road safety,
family support and unfavorable working
environment for women are among the most
common problems for female employment
in Bangladesh. That is why sometimes family
members encourage them to be in home. In
this reality freelancing carrier can be a great
opportunity for women. Freelancing has
almost become a buzz word in Bangladesh.
Everybody wants to be a freelancer. It is very
inspiring but at the same time we have seen
an enormous gender gap in the freelancer
community in Bangladesh. Though, recently
we have seen few female freelancers who
are very successful in different world
renowned freelance outsourcing
marketplaces but the number is very limited.
The situation can be changed and improved
by giving proper training and taking
necessary and appropriate steps. According
to the research released by Elance, not only
womens earnings are growing, but 74% of
the women surveyed (2,777) say that online
freelance work provide them more
opportunities to succeed in technology
careers over traditional onsite or
full-time work.
At present in Bangladesh discrimination of
male and female also in the outsourcing
sector. Here we find male freelancer
captured all the market where females are
not encouraged for this sector.
Male freelancer 40%
Female Freelancer 5%
Still 55% opportunity (both)
We have encouraged also females in the
following sector:
Public University 10%
Private University 5%
Other Institution 1%
have a chance to Increase 50%
64
What type of work doing by freelancer?

Source: oDesk
Have you ever wanted to work for yourself
and be in charge of how much you work and
when you work? That is essentially what being
a freelancer is about. Freelancers make their
own rules about when and how they want to
work. If this is something that you are
interested in, you may be wondering what
type of work you can do.
Software development:
Web development:
Desktop Software
Mobile application
Business Software
Database software etc.
e-Commerce:
Joomla
Magento
Opencart
Amazon SES
Affiliate Marketing etc.
Writing:
Blog writing
Article writing
Writing for content etc.
Illustrators:
Graphics
Vector image
3D animation etc.
Design:
Website & page design
Logo design etc.
Skilled Trade:
Chances are you have heard of someone
who works full time at a job and then does
work on the side. They are freelancing and
the possibilities are endless in this situation.
Plumbing, accounting, electrical, people can
freelance as they are able to fit it into their
schedule. They can run a business doing
these tasks full time where they rely on clients
to keep them working and engaged.
What are the main critera to be a freelancer?
Still many of us think that may be he/she
creates an identity in a freelancing site will
get a lot of work and earn lot of money. Its
wrong. If anyone wants to work properly and
get success in this sector he/she has to
complete some criteria as follows:
mental preperation
create profile with authentic information
write a perfect overview
give perfect skills
apply relevant job with relevant skill
write proper cover letter
speak English in the interview
What type of training needs here?
Web development & Web Design.
Logo, Banner and website template design.
Full website Development.
Language we use: PHP, CSS, XHTML, HTML5,
AJAX, JAVASCRIPT, JQUERY, JSON etc.
Database we use: SQL MySQL
CMS we expert on: WORDPRESS, JOMLA,
MAGENTO, OSCOMMERCE, Z-CART,
X-CART etc.
Website maintains & edit.
SEO Back link, Article Submission, Social
Bookmarking, Social Media Marketing,
Directory Submission, and Web2 link
creation etc.
Web research, list creation, Database
creation on Excel.
Data Entry, Product entry etc.
Freelancer training and Freelancer
creation.
Another Steps of Training:
A to Z information about oDesk/Elance etc.
Applying for job on basis of skill.
Application writing tips.
Interview with client.
Basic English.
Project training, start working, and
reporting.
Payment
Conclusion
65
A tale of 3G in Bangladesh
and the role of Teletalk
Engr. Md. Mujibur Rahman*
Bangladesh, in recent years, witnessed
phenomenal growth in mobile
communications. At present the penetration
rate of mobile subscribers is about 79% which
may be attained to 130% by 2020. The country
reached first one million subscribers mark in
2002,subsequently it achieved 10 million
subscribers base in 2005. Subsequently in 2009,
within four years from then, 50 millions
subscribers were added. On january,2014 the
country achieved more than 114 million mobile
subscribers and 36 million internet users.
Background history:
It is known to all, that the present government
declared to achieve Digital Bangladesh by
2021.To achieve digital Bangladesh it was
necessary to provide access to information
for all citizens ,poor or rich, literate or illiterate
,urban or rural Bangladesh. Ensuring a fast
and easy connectivity to receive required
information was one of the biggest
challenges towards achieving digital
Bangladesh. In order to achieve the target, in
march 2010, Ministry of posts and
telecommunications arranged an
international seminar where hon. prime
minister sheikh Hasina graced the occasion
as chief guest. The ITU secretary General
Hamadoun I. Toure attended the august
seminar and the keynote paper titled Digital
Bangladesh: plan of connecting people was
presented in the seminar. In the seminar,
among other recommendations, it was
recommended that Bangladesh should
immediately introduce 3G in mobile
communications networks. On that day, after
the meeting, the honorable prime minister
Sheikh Hasina informed hon. minister MOPT
that she would include secretary MOPT and
Managing Director TBL to visit China for the
possibility of taking loan in favor of TBL to
introduce 3G in Bangladesh. Subsequently ,
during visit, the Chinese Government agreed
the proposal and decided to accord soft
loan to TBL for expansion of 2.5G and
introduction of 3G in Bangladesh. After that
Teletalk undertook a project titled Expansion
of 2.5G and introduction 3G ,where the
provision was made for 6.5 millon switching
capacity of which 1.7 million would be 3G
subscribers..BTRC,the regulator, allowed
Teletalk to introduce 3G only for experimental
basis commercial operation and they
ensured that TBL will be accorded 3G license
after the auction of the same . Accordingly,
Teletalk has acquired 3G license from BTRC
with a very wide band of 10 MHZ spectrum to
provide 3G to 4G relevant services
throughout the country at 2100 MHZ
frequency band.
Activities of Teletalk:
Teletalk Bangladesh Limited (TBL) launched
commercial testing of 3G Services in
october,2012.There has been significant
growth of attention amongst the mobile
subscribers on teletalks 3G services. Teletalk
expanded its 3G coverage to 20 districts and
rest of districts will be covered very soon and
upazilla level will be covered subsequently.
Being impressed of the quality of 3G services
of Teletalk, a large number of subscribers are
being attracted. Before introducing of 3G in
2012 teletalk had only 17 lakh subscribers, at
present 37 lakhs subscribers have been
added to teletalk network. With the
introduction of 3G services of Teletalk the use
* Former Managing Director,TBL
66
of mobile internet services increased
substantially in Bangladesh. To date about 1.1
million subscribers of Teletalk are using
internet out of which 0.7 million are using 3G
high speed internet services and the numbers
of users are growing rapidly.
The main objectives of creating Teletalk were
as follows:
i. To provide quality tele-services to its
subscribers with a reasonable price.
ii. To proliferate the services throughout the
country regardless of classes, areas to
break the digital divide.
iii. To use Teletalk as instrumental to regulate
market monopoly of the private
operators.
Key success factors:
i. Most affordable mobile phone services in
Bangladesh.
ii. Key presence in some remotest
areas(Chittagong Hill track, Sunderbans
etc.) of the country.
iii. Pioneer in launching 3G services in
Bangladesh.
iv. Lowest OPEX portfolio in the industry.
v. Strategic alliances with Bangladesh
Telecommunications company Limited.
vi. Introduction of innovative products and
services.
vii. Introduction of most modern network
operation centre to monitor different
positions of the network.
viii. Introduction of Internet protocol
customer care centre to mitigate the
queries and problem of the subscribers.
ix. 100% Bangladeshi workforces at all levels
of the company.
Value Added Services of Teletalk:
In terms of Value Added Services(VAS)
Teletalk has been continuing its leadership in
the market by providing innovative services.
In university and college admission as well as
in publication of ssc,hsc,jsc,psc and similar other
examination results through sms,web,and
e-mail Teletalk has almost 100% market
share. Moreover, last year the company
introduced largest bill payment system of the
country for Rural Electrification Board using
Teletalks network.
Few salient activities of Teletalk towards
achieving Digital Bangladesh:
i. e-education: Services related to 10
educational boards. Teletalk has been
publishing the results of psc,jsc,ssc,hsc
and equivalents through SMS and
website and paperless result sending to
the respective institutions. Upto
december 2013, about 7.5 crores persons
received results through SMS,12.9 crore
persons received results through website.
ii. e-admission: Online application and fee
connection through SMS and internet for
670 univrersities and colleges, upto
december 2013 more than 25 crore
applicants applied through SMS and
internet.
iii. e-health: Medicare service for public
health through SMS. Upto december,2013
about 3.5 crores persons received the
facilities.
iv. e- application for job: Receiving
application, fee and sending admit card
for jobs of PSC,NTRCA, Bangladesh army,
Sonali Bank, Directorate of secondary
and higher education. upto
december2013, about 31 lakh applicants
received services through this method.
v. e-payment: The subscribers of Rural
Electrification Board (REB) are paying
their bills through telecharge.
vi. e- Purje: In order to purchase sugarcane
through digital system BSFIC adopted
Digital Purje Management of different
sugar mills through Teletalk.
67
vii. District e-services: Information on
different services through internet and
SMS from one stop service in 64 districts
has also been launched through Teletalk.
viii. e-registration with BMET: An online
registration through internet and SMS
submitted by Bangladeshi national is
eligible to register with BMET for overseas
employment.
ix. e-lottery: Developing and launching
electronic lottery for few organizations
including Ahsania Mission.
x. SMS and mobile banking: Teletalk has
been providing SMS banking services to 5
banks including of prime bank and Trust
bank limited.
xi. SMS-Voting: Teletalk developed a SMS
voting gateway for selecting 7 wonders of
nature.
Network Expansion:
After the launching of 3G technology,
Teletalk has experienced few changes in
business operation, from stakeholders both
external and internal, such as the rapid
growth of subscribers ,revenues and brand
loyalty in recent years. To keep the pace of
such development, Teletalk should have
taken various initiatives to expand its 3G
network at least upazilla level and immediate
up gradation of 3G technology in higher
version(HSPA+) for major cities of the country.
Moreover, the company should focus the
following development initiatives and are to
be implemented in phases:
i. In the world where 80% of mobile traffic
comes from indoors,the spotlight on in
building coverage continues to
strengthen. So, 3G data offloading by Wifi
for major spots in many part of the
country for ensuring the smooth internet
facility for the subscribers.
ii. Introducing the ICT applications in
Teletalks business value chain activities
to intake the advantages in
technological leverages in greater
aspect.
iii. Strengthening the Value Added Services
(VAS) for mass, corporate and
government agencies, especially mobile
survillances, vehicle tracking,SMART
home/internet of things, and advent
technologies.
iv. Coverage and capacity of 3G networks
thoughout the country and introduction
of LTE technology(4th generation of
mobile communications)
68
* Student of Taraf High School, Aushpara, Habiganj and stood first in online Essay Competition on the occasion of WTISD
2014 (Group A)
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70
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71
* Student of Borishal Politechnic Institute, Barishal and stood first in online Essay Competition on the occasion of WTISD 2014
(Group B)
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72
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73
* Student of Dhaka College, Dhaka and stood first in online Essay Competition on the occasion of WTISD 2014 (Group C)
Broadband Internet for
Sustainable Development
Mohammad Salah Uddin*
Introduction
The world today is faced with growing
challenges rising population, poverty,
epidemics, climate change. But we also have
tools of unprecedented power in helping us
to meet those challenges: information and
communication technologies (ICT). Prime
among them is broadband access to the
Internet, which is creating a revolution in how
services are delivered, industrial processes
are managed, research is carried out and
much more.
In order to make progress in achieving the
Sustainable Development by the target date
of 2015 as set by the United Nations, it is
essential that countries and communities
everywhere are enabled to take advantage
of this revolution. If they are not, they will lose
the opportunity to reap the economic and
social benefits that broadband brings.
Table 1. Theoretical time to download data online at different connection speeds
Download type 56 Kbit/s (dial-up) 256 Kbit/s 2 Mbit/s 40 Mbit/s 100 Mbit/s
Google home page
(160 KB)
23 seconds 5 seconds 0.64 seconds 0.03 second 0.01 second
ITU home page (750 KB) 107 seconds 23 seconds 3 seconds 0.15 second 0.06 second
5 MB music track 12 minutes 3 minutes 20 seconds 1 second 0.4 second
20 MB video clip 48 minutes 10 minutes 1 minute 4 seconds 1.6 seconds
CD, or low quality
movie (700 MB)
28 hours 6 hours 47 minutes 2 minutes 56 seconds
Source: ITU
Source: ITU
What is Broadband?
It is possible to define broadband in various ways: as a minimum upstream and/or downstream
transmission speed, for example, or according to the technology used or the type of service that
can be delivered. However, countries differ in their definitions of broadband, and, as
technologies advance, the minimum defined speeds are likely to increase at the same pace.
74
Broadband Internet and Sustainable
Development
The European Commission estimates that
broadband can create more than two million
jobs in Europe by 2015, and an increase in
GDP of at least EUR 636 billion. A study in Brazil
reported that broadband added up to 1.4%
to the employment growth rate.
For developing countries in the low- and
middle-income brackets, broadband is a key
driver of economic growth and, according to
a study by the World Bank, provides a boost
of 1.38 additional percentage points to GDP
growth for every 10-percentage-point
increase in broadband penetration
higher than any other telecommunication
service.
There are many kinds of effective role of
Broadband Internet on the sustainable
development. Such as:-
1. End Poverty & Hunger
Growing evidence suggests that broadband
can boost GDP, jobs and incomes, helping to
combat poverty and hunger. In the
Source: ITU
Source: ITU
Table 2: Statistics for High-Speed Connectivity, 2013
Impact of Broadband Internet on the Sustainable Development
Broadband represents a set of transformative technologies that are increasingly seen as major
drivers for sustainable development.
Table 3: Impacts of Broadband Internet on the Sustainable Development
Total, end 2013 Broadband
Total, end 2013
% global Total high
speed, end 2013
Internet users 2.749 billion -/- -/-
fixed Internet
subscriptions
-/- 696 million (2013) -/-
Mobile subscriptions 6.835 billion 2.096 billion 30.7%
Unique mobile users 3.3 - 5 billion 1.5 billion 30%
Handset shipments 1.736 billion (2012) 712.6 million
Smartphones (2012)
41.1% (2012)
44.5% (2012)
Economic
impacts
Social impacts Political impacts Technological
impacts
Environmental
impacts
Legal impacts
Increase GDP
Increased
resource
mobilization
Market
capital
created
Increased
productivity
Generation of
highly paid
employments
Improved
living
standards
through the
use of
technology
Reduced
corruption
Aa literate
nation created
Social peace
and security
ensured
Increased
ability of
the politicians to
consider their
respective
constituencies
from
a broader
perspective
Increased
transparency
and
accountability
Enhanced
efforts for
technological
innovations in
all sectors
Intellectual
property (IP)
properly
evaluated
Service
providing
process
simplified
Technology for
reduction of
Carbon Dioxide
emissions
suitably
modified
Prevent
environmental
degradation
Preserve
environmental
equilibrium
Improved
governance
through the
establishment of
rule of law
Assisting
people
to obtain lawful
justice
75
Dominican Republic, a 10% increase in
broadband penetration could reduce
unemployment by 2.9%. In Indonesia, mobile
broadband could boost GDP by 2.9% or
US$22.6 bn. In India, broadband has already
generated nearly 9 million direct and indirect
jobs, while a 1% increase in broadband
penetration could add US$2.7 bn or 0.11% to
Indian GDP in 2015.
2. Universal Education
Governments and NGOs are providing
schools with PCs and connectivity to foster
primary education. In Turkey, the FATIH
project will equip 42,000 schools, 17 million
students and 1 million teachers with
computers. In Nigeria, the USF has teamed up
with Intel to deploy computers in over 1,000
schools since 2008, helping improve exam
results. In Argentina, San Luis Province
established an All Kids Online Initiative to
deliver a PC and educational software to
every child of 6-12.
3. Gender Equality
Closing the mobile gender gap and
bringing 600 million more women online
could increase global GDP by US$13-18
billion. Connect To Learn (CTL) has
equipped 10,000 students (especially girls) in
schools in Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti,
Ghana, India, Malawi, Kenya, Senegal,
South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
4. Maternal health
Ultrasound tests through telemedicine can
play a key role in the monitoring of maternal
health via text, voice messaging and
mobile apps. Online platforms are also
serving as an information and
communication hub for health facilities and
supporting conversations between
community health workers, midwives,
clinicians, and expectant mothers.
5. HIV/AIDS
For healthcare workers, web-based
applications are hubs for HIV information and
capacity building. Computer-based surveys
are changing the scope of HIV research and
prevention. Broadband allows collaborative
research of scientists around the world by
integrating data much faster than previously,
where repositories were isolated.
6. Environment
Smart use of ICTs can reduce GHG emissions
by up to 25% (Broadband Bridge report).
Mobile technology alone could lower GHGs
by 2% by 2020. E-commerce could lower
energy consumption and GHG emissions by
30% over traditional retail. Teleconferencing
and telecommuting could replace air and
land travel via video/ audio conferences.
ICTs could potentially save up to 7.8
Gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions by
2020 (GESI, 2012).
7. Partnership
The benefits of new technologies, especially
ICTs, should be made available by
Governments in cooperation with the private
sector. ICTs are facilitating and enabling new
global partnerships, including
crowd-sourcing, collaborative authoring,
teleconferencing and teleworking.
Broadband Internet for Sustainable
Development: Perspective Bangladesh
In developing countries, like as Bangladesh,
GDP increases by 0.6 percent when
connectivity, especially the teledensity,
increases by 10 percent. In Bangladesh,
Broadband situation is not good enough. But
the government has worked to improve this
sector for realizing the vision of Digital
Bangladesh or Sustainable Development.
76
When the present Government took its office
in 2009, the teledensity of Bangladesh was
around 30 percent. As part of the process of
building digital Bangladesh, the Government
declared that teledensity in Bangladesh
would go as high as 70 percent in 2015 and 90
percent in 2021. At the end of the first two
years of the current tenure of this
Government, teledensity increased to 47.8
percent. In the third year, the rate of this
increase was even higher. The overall
teledensity in Bangladesh currently stands at
61.3 percent. If teledensity, as per
Government's commitment, increases to 70
percent by 2015 and 90 percent by 2021,
there will be an additional increase of GDP by
2.1 percent by 2015 and 3.3 percent by 2021.
In the first two years of the current tenure of
the Government, the number of internet
users has increased from 3.2 percent to 12
percent. It is expected that, by 2020, there
will be an additional 2.6 percent growth of
GDP as a consequence of using high speed
internet. Another commitment of the
Government is to expand coverage of
broadband network to 30 percent by 2015
and 40 percent by 2018. GDP will increase by
another 1.38 percent if broadband
penetration is increased by 10 percent.
Conclusion
The benefits of Broadband are of great
significance, not only for all sectors of an
economy, but also in support of culture and
democracy worldwide. Communities and
individuals can exchange experience and
ideas, and each can express their particular
and precious views of the world. And of
course, Broadband is a crucial tool in
achieving the sustainable development.
Source: ITU
Table 4.Broadband status of Bangladesh in world ranking, 2012(per 100 inhabitants)
Indicator Ranking country Bangladesh
rank
Global average Bangladesh
average
Fixed
Broadband
penetration
183 138 9.1 0.3
Mobile
Broadband
penetration
170 137 22.1 0.2
Households
with Internet
(Dev.
Countries)
128 117 24.0 2.1
Individuals
using Internet
192 161 35.7 6.3
77
Year Theme
1969 The ITU, its Role and Action
1970 Telecommunication and Training
1971 Space and Telecommunications
1973 International Cooperation
1974 Telecommunications and Transport
1975 Telecommunications and Meteorology (in cooperation with WMC)
1976 Telecommunications and Information (in cooperation with WMO)
1977 Telecommunications and Development (in cooperation with UNDP
1978 Radio Telecommunication (60th anniversary of CCIR)
1979 Telecommunication for all
1980 Rural Telecommunications
1981 Telecommunications and Health (In cooperation of WHO)
1983 One World, One Network
1984 Telecommunications: Broader Horizons
1985 Telecommunications: for Development
1986 Partners in progress: Governments, Manufacturers and Users
1987 Telecommunications in Service of Nations
1988 The Transfer Technological Know-how in the age of Electronics
1990 Telecommunications and Industrial Development
1991 Telecommunications and Safety of Human Life
1992 Telecommunications and Space: New Horizons
1993 Telecommunications and Human Development
1994 Telecommunications of Culture
1995 Telecommunications and Environment
1996 Telecommunications and Sport
1997 Telecommunications and Humanitarian Assistance
1998 Trade in Telecommunications
1999 Electronic Commerce
2000 Mobile Communications
2001 The Internet: challenges, opportunities and prospects
2002 ICT for all; Empowering People in Communicate
2003 Helping all of the Worlds People to Communicate
2004 ICT: Leading the Way to Sustainable Development
2005 Creating and Equitable Information Society: Time for Action
2006 Promoting Global Cyber Security
Year Theme
2007 Connection the young: the opportunities of ICT
2008 Connection Persons with Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for all
2009 Protecting Children in Cyberspace
2010 Better city, better life with ICTS
2011 Better Life in Rural Communities with ICTs
2012 Women and Girls in ICT
2013 ICTs and Improving Road Safety
2014 Broadband for Sustainable Development
World Telecommunication
and Information Society Day
World Telecommunication Day
78
Executive Committee of BCS (Telecom) Samity
2013 - 2014
Mohammad Toufique
President
Md. Shahjahan
General Secretary
Abdullah Al Mahmud Faruk
Additional General Secretary
Swapan Kumar Saha
Vice President
Md. Sahab Uddin
Vice President
Khan Ataur Rahman
Vice President
Md. Nasir Uddin Tarafder
Joint Secretary
Md. Nazimuddin Pramanik
Joint Secretary
Muhammad Abdul Hannan
Treasurer
Md. Khaled Hossain
Organising Secretary
Sanjib kumar ghatak
Seminar & Publication Secretary
Md. Taherul Islam
Sports Secretary
79
Executive Committee of BCS (Telecom) Samity (Contd.)
2013- 2014
Provas Chandra Bhattacharjee
Publicity Secretary
Bishwajit Roy
Cultural Secretary
Mohd. Shahadat Hossain
Office Secretary
S.O.M. Kalim Ullah
Executive Member
Mohammed A. Taleb
Executive Member
Mashiur Rahman
Executive Member
Md. Rezaur Rahman Akanda
Executive Member
Md. Manjur Ahmed
Executive Member
Mirza Kamal Ahmed
Executive Member
Mir Kasir Uddin Iqbal
Executive Member
Md. Ashraful Islam
Executive Member
Sheikh Wahiduzzaman
Executive Member
Md. Golam Mostafa Moral
Executive Member
Md. Moududul Hoque
Executive Member
Aminur Rahman
Executive Member
Md. Sahriful Islam
Executive Member
About CMEC
CMEC in Bangladesh
China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC)
was founded in 1978, is one of the largest engineering
& trade companies in China, and a member of China
National Machinery Industry Corporation. CMEC is a
giant business complex engaged in project engineering
as the core business, integrating import & export trade,
scientific research & design, financing and other
services. As an internationally reputed contractor,
CMEC has ranked among top 10 overseas contractors
by completed business volume published by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Moreover, the company has also ranked among the top 225 interrnational contractors
assessed by The ENR for successive years.
CMEC has been operating in Bangladesh for more than 22 years, and has completed a few
power plant projects, communications projects and telecommunication projects in
Bangladesh. Currently CMEC is engaged in a project entitled Introduction of 3G
Technology and Expansion of 2.5 Network of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. under the
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and Development of National ICT-Infra
Network for Bangladesh Government phase II (Info Sarker) under the Ministry of
Information and Communication Technology.
China Machinery Engineering Corporation
9th Floor, Doreen Tower, House No. 6/A, Road No.46, Gulshan Avenue, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
Mobile: +880-1551558888 Tel: +880-2-8821982 8811782 Fax: +880-2-8823646
Introduction of 3G Technology and Expansion of
2.5G Network 2010 - 2014
Installation of NGN Based Telecommunication
Network For Digital Bangladesh
Installation & Expansion of Digital Telephone
Exchanges in Various District Head Quarters of
Bangladesh 1999 - 2002
Development of National ICT-Infra Network for
Bangladesh Government Phase II (Info-Sarker)

Teletech 2014

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Volume XXIII May 2014

WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION AND

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