The fifth-generation or 5G mobile network will be launched in Bangladesh by the end of this year, said Prime Minister's Information and Communication Technology Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy.

He said: "We are aiming to launch 5G (and) planning to pilot it at the end of this year." 

Sajeeb Wazed made the announcement at a business roundtable in New York.

As the government is pledge-bound to provide broadband internet to the last mile, Bangladesh actually doesn't a have a shortage of capacity and bandwidth, he said.

Joy observed that people (users in the last mile) are not connected with the internet through fixed lines rather they use mobile internet.

"So, the challenges we face is spectrum incapacity. Because of our population density, we need a lot of spectrum and just shared additional spectrum in auction, and we are in the process of freeing more spectrum for the mobile operators," he added

Mentioning that they've launched 4G a few years ago, he said ". . . we are hoping that the additional spectrum will allow the mobile operators to take 4G to the rural areas (last mile)."

He went on saying, "with this together (4G and 5G) we are trying to solve the last mile problem . . . as there is plenty of capacity and fiber within the country and connecting the outside."

US-Bangladesh Business Council organized the business roundtable on September 21 in honor of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now in New York to attend the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The Premier virtually joined the roundtable titled "Bangladesh Forward: The New Frontier for Growth" from Lotte New York Palace here on Tuesday.

BDST: 1647 HRS, SEP 22, 2021
SMS