Mahmudul Hasan

Development initiatives in Bangladesh normally take longer than usual to come to fruition. However, the project to set up a dozen hi-tech parks at the district level is moving at such a glacial pace that it may hold the government from attaining its vision of building a smart nation and readying the workforce for the digitalised world.

Police did not arrest Pabna’s Bera municipality mayor SM Asif Shams for over two and a half years, even though he had an arrest warrant against him for his company’s failure to pay Tk 191.63 crore it owed the state.

A staggering majority of customers of state-run telecom operator Teletalk are getting no solutions even after logging complaints through the call centre of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Parliament yesterday approved a provision that will allow black money holders to legalise their undisclosed wealth without any scrutiny by paying a 15 percent tax, disregarding widespread condemnation from various quarters.

The telecom regulator has decided to introduce an artificial intelligence (AI)-based customer relationship management system and increase the capacity of its call centre in a bid to resolve customers' complaints fast and efficiently.

Bangladesh’s interest payments on external borrowing are projected to soar by 65 percent within three years due to rising global interest rates and an expanded foreign loan portfolio, which will put further pressure on the dwindling foreign currency reserves. 

The proposed budget for fiscal year 2024-25 offered no relief to startups and neglected their long-standing demands, in sharp contrast with the government’s vision for a Smart Bangladesh, where startups are key economic drivers.

Bangladesh’s IT exports declined in July-March of the current financial year, highlighting the country’s struggle to gain a foothold in the global information and communications technology sector.

The mobile internet subscriber base in Bangladesh witnessed a massive growth in April, increasing by 39 lakh, marking the biggest jump in recent years.

Currently, investors in the EZs and hi-tech parks qualify for a tax break for a decade starting from the first year of their operations. They are entitled to a full tax waiver in the first three years.

Experts are split on the necessity of rolling out 5G in Bangladesh due to several critical issues.

Is 5G merely a vanity, just another technology that offers nothing extraordinary? Or has it emerged as a central cog in transforming the digital space by resolving issues related to low speed and latency?

The government has hiked the supplementary duty on mobile top-ups alongside VAT on SIM cards, pushing up costs that will be incurred by mobile and internet users, which will inevitably put a financial strain on access to essential services.

The government will have the power to set the terms of removal and resignation of the commissioners of the telecom regulator, according to a draft law.

The telecom regulator and Grameenphone have initiated negotiations regarding late fees of around Tk 6,000 crore based on an audit claim, as both parties seek an out-of-court settlement on the matter.

The development has created panic among businesses as they apprehend difficulties in ensuring compliance with VAT and tax regulations when advertising directly with Meta.

The allocation for interest payments of domestic and foreign loans will likely increase by 38 percent to Tk 129,000 crore in the upcoming budget due to a significant hike in the cost of borrowing from both sources

Power outage due to cyclone Remal has caused over 10,000 mobile towers or base transceiver stations (BTS) to go out of service, affecting the mobile and internet services of millions of people in the southern districts

The telecom regulator has decided to allow mobile phone operators to pay spectrum acquisition fees in the local currency, a relief for them as the US dollar has become costlier to a large extent.

It was a pretty good project for SkyTech Solutions for the last few years: generating earnings of $8.5 per hour for each of over 50 people.