The government aims to bring the whole country under hi-speed internet coverage, including the remote islands, within this year, says Telecom and IT Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
On Thursday (Apr 5), the minister and telecoms regulator chief Shahjahan Mahmood travelled to the island Upazila of Swandip in Chittagong to assess the situation.
“We will have to focus on the shortcomings; not only the achievements and we have opened initiatives. We aim to provide hi-speed internet at all unions, islands, remote areas and even in enclaves by 2018 and we are hopeful about achieving it,” he told Bangla Tribune before leaving Dhaka.
A total of 772 unions, including 111 enclaves, are yet to come under internet coverage. The government has initiated four projects.
Official sources said that the state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Ltd (BTCL) has already connected 1,200 unions with hi-speed internet.
Another 2,600 unions have been given internet connectivity under the ministry’s Info Government-3 project.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood say the remote areas will be connected through the Asian Satellite.
“We will provide voice and internet connectivity in low-cost for the people in remote areas,” he told Bangla Tribune on Thursday.
Sources said the satellite can connect 226 remote unions, where wired internet is yet to be available.