5G on the horizon: Are we ready?

Mohabbat Morshed | 03 September 2021 | 9:20 pm | 256

5G on the horizon: Are we ready?

The other day I called one of my acquaintances, with whom I share my two cents on different pertinent issues from time to time, just to exchange pleasantries. I also requested him to pore over a recent write-up scribbled by me. He later informed me that he was unable to read it because he could not access internet at a good speed, good enough to browse a link. At that time, he was staying at the domicile in his hamlet located at Ghatail in Tangail. I was, at first, taken aback a little to know that the internet speed was not high enough to browse a mere link despite the fact that his village home was not in the remotest area or it wasn’t a rural backwater. Then, another thought just crossed my mind – when someone from a village area still cannot access internet (3G or 4G) properly, what’s the point of introducing 5G?

For any advancement to be sustainable and long-lasting, we must take a single leap at a time and move on to the next step only when the previous one has been pulled off with flying colors. Bangladesh launched 3G technology in 2013 and 4G in 2018. Eight years into the initiation of 3G technology, people from all walks of life are yet to reap full benefits of this technology. In spite of this, 4G technology was introduced in 2018, without ensuring uninterrupted 3G services for all. And now, when all the telcos are yet to bring the whole country under 4G coverage fully, the country is rushing to launch 5G technology. How prudent is this decision and will it really bear fruits for cross-sections of people?

According to data provided by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), mobile internet subscribers inched up to 10.633 crore from 10.3193 crore in March this year. It means more and more people are leaning towards mobile internet services as the new normal thrust upon us by the rogue virus has forced people to keep up with the time riding on the power of digitalization.

But, interestingly only 10 percent of users adopted 4G network till 2019 despite the fact that Bangladesh entered 4G era in February 2018, global mobile communication industry GSMA revealed in one of its reports. According to the same report, by the time we will reach 2025, only 46 percent users in Bangladesh will access 4G network. In contrast to such reality, BTRC has already devised and declared plans to launch 5G in 2021, and they are hopeful about making it available in the district level by 2023. Now the question is – when the country is still far away from growing its 4G network properly, is it a warranted action to focus on rolling out 5G without pressurizing the telecom operators to enhance their services and ensure proper 3G and 4G coverage for all?

Again, mass people, especially the rural subalterns, are not getting proper 3G internet services, let alone 4G. Even in the urban areas, take for example my case, the internet speed is too slow. Though I live in the capital, use a device of a mobile brand that claims itself to have registered hundreds of 4G and 5G patents and avail of internet packages of the telco that boasts of the largest base of mobile subscribers, I often find it difficult to watch videos even on YouTube without buffering.

Recent stats revealed by Ookla, a global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence, attest this fact. Ookla placed Bangladesh in the 134th position among 137 countries in its Speedtest Global Index for May. The speed was 12.53Mbps in May, which is the lowest among the South Asian countries. Internet speeds in India, Pakistan and Nepal were 15.34Mbps, 19.9Mbps and 19.54Mbps respectively in May. Now imagine, when a far less developed country like Nepal is offering better mobile internet speed than us, we seem to have least bothered about it. Rather, we are in a hurry to introduce 5G without ironing out the existing wrinkles.

(The writer is a columnist.)     

 

 

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