YESTERDAY one of the mobile phone companies operating in Bangladesh announced that it had hit the 10 million customer mark, and the total number of mobile phone users is now in the region of 50 million, or approximately one phone for every three Bangladeshis. We congratulate all the mobile companies especially the leading ones, who have contributed tremendously in bringing about a fundamental transformation.
The rapid and continuing expansion of this sector has had a tectonic effect on Bangladesh. With the prices of mobile phones and sim cards getting ever cheaper, the mobile phone has found a firm foothold within the middle classes and is already making inroads among the working poor. No longer is it a luxury or a toy of the urban elites. The best thing about the proliferation of mobile phones is that they allow everyone who owns one to access information and communicate freely.
From the taxi driver to the carpenter to the small businessman, owning a mobile phone can massively increase people's ability to earn a good living and transform themselves into more productive citizens, to say nothing of the fact that mobile phones can connect people from even the most far-flung corners of the country and help people to stay in touch with friends and families wherever they might be in the country.
Now, with more and more ingenious applications available every day, we find that the opportunity afforded by mobile phones to the common people is even greater. Now a farmer or a fisherman can check via his mobile phone the price in distant markets and can thus receive a fairer price for his produce. People searching for jobs or second-hand computers need look no further than the mobile phone in their hand to see what the market has to offer.
In the future, mobile phones will be the vehicle for expanding banking and healthcare services to the poor and rural citizens who are currently underserved. The humble mobile phone has morphed into a composite radio, music-player, and internet access -- who knows what benefit it will bestow next?
One dark cloud on the business is that a number of the prominent mobile phone companies have been found guilty of operating illegal VoIP. We are saddened that they would thus tarnish their reputation, and trust that in the future that all activities of the companies will be above board and beneficial to the people.
The mobile phone industry has really transformed Bangladesh and put opportunity into the hands of many who previously didn't have it. It is a prime example of how new technologies and private enterprise can transform a country for the better.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment