The first locally produced laptop was named after the national bird ‘Doel’, but plagued with problems, it never really took off.
However, it will get another lease of life as a revamped model is set to hit the market soon.
State-run Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS) Ltd wants to make it into a top model capable of competing with others.
A new marketing strategy will be adopted while lucrative offers made. The digital device to be given to students will be made by the organisation making Doel.
Telecoms and IT Minister Mustafa Jabbar says, “Once Doel comes to the market, it will become the best brand available; we are concentrating on quality and price.”

The laptop project was launched in 2010, a year after the Awami League government came to power, in order to realise its ‘Digital Bangladesh’ vision.
The hype and promotion centred on a Tk 10,000 one, the cheapest, locally-assembled “Primary Model 2102”, unveiled by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The model saw sale of only a few hundred pieces.
TSS assembled 63,245 laptops of 11 models till date and managed to sell 58,750 units, according to the Posts and Telecommunication Division's 2016-17 annual report.
Of those, the education ministry took 23,331, the telecom division's postal department 24,000 and the army 2,799 units.

With the laptop's low configuration failing to draw attention, TSS brought down its assembly output before suspending it altogether.
It then started to import complete laptops bearing the DOEL logo and marketed it as “made in Bangladesh”. That too stopped after demand reached zero.
But Minister Jabbar feels that Doel did not get the market it deserved because at that time there wasn’t a market for it.
The government’s ICT Division has already received 15,000 of the new upgraded laptops.
Saying there won’t be a problem with funds, he observed: “Laptops will be handed over to students.”