ICT Sector of Bangladesh at a Glance

Bangladesh is a country of one hundred and sixty million people. It is a poor country but because of continuous high economic growth, the country is developing and the market here is expanding every year. Bangladesh is a country with rich heritage, intellectual achievements and hard working people. In the last one decade, people have become very conscious about the potential of ICT sector.

The market of computer products has been expanding sharply all the time. If a person visits different parts of Dhaka then she or he will notice the existence of many computer shops. There are more than one thousands computer shops in Dhaka and it perhaps indicates the interest of ordinary people about computer technology. In this country, Computer Science and Engineering is a very popular topic among students in university level. All the Universities (both public and private) have these subjects and it is a very popular choice among the meritorious students. Thus the country produces around 5,000 ICT graduates every year.

Bangladeshi decision makers are keen to support the ICT sector and there is a dream that within a few years, Bangladesh will earn millions of dollars from export of software and ITES. Right now, there are more than two hundred companies that are working in software and ITES field. The revenue from software and ITES sector is slowly increasing.

Bangladesh got connected with internet in 1996 and in the last fourteen years there has been a tremendous growth. Right now there are more than 180 registered internet service providers. Apart from Internet connections from the Internet Service Providers, People can access internet through their mobile phones and in 2009, Wimax came for the users in Dhaka city. It is expected that the market of broadband internet will witness many fold growth in the next one decade and it is a very good time for foreign investors to come and invest in this sector.

There are three major ICT associations. Bangladesh Computer Samity or BCS is the largest ICT association with over seven hundred members. It is an inclusive organization with members from hardware, software and ITES and internet segments. BCS is a member of ASOCIO.

Bangladesh association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) is the association for software and ITES companies. On the other hand, Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) is the association for internet service providers.

The country has witnessed revolutionary growth in the mobile phone sector. Now, Bangladesh has a teledensity of almost 50% and the mobile phone market has been growing at a very fast speed in the last ten years.

There are more than 10 private TV channels and more channels will come in the next two years. There are several FM radio stations and they are very popular among the young generation.

Many of the top tech companies have their office in Bangladesh. Many other top tech companies are well represented by their distributors in the country. Thus, companies like Microsoft, Intel, Canon, HP, Samsung, ASUS are actively present in Bangladesh market.

The government of Bangladesh is keen to promote the ICT sector and the goal of the current government is to turn Bangladesh into ‘Digital Bangladesh’ by year 2021. Thus, there is a lot of good will from the government to support this industry.