INTERNET AND DATA COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE IN BANGLADESH - Special Emphasis for Education and Research S. M. Lutful Kabir, PhD Professor and Director Institute of Information and Communication Technology Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

History of Internet in Bangladesh First, UUCP in 1993 IP Connectivity in 1996 Present user 3,00,000 representing 0.24% penetration

Research and Education Education in Computer first started at BUET in ,796 primary level institutions 5694 secondary institutions secondary institutions 2339 higher secondary and degree colleges 30 numbers of Universities

IT Development Governments Emphasis to establish high capacity fiber optic telecommunication backbone Local Information and Infrastructure (LII) National Information and Infrastructure (NII) Global Information and Infrastructure (GII) Exemption tax from Computer items Distribution of computers to schools Computerization of government offices

Village Computer and Internet Familiarizing village people Providing computer training at a minimul price Providing facility Easier access to relevant market information Enabling student contact for higher education Creating IT related Job opportunity

MEDINET Range of information resources related to health Doctors get help from the resources Connects to the Internet every hour through a commercial ISP Helps user to acquire articles from reputed journal

IP Telephony Much cheaper than conventional telephone system At present, illegal Individuals and commercial user still uses IP telephone Government considering the formal permission system for IP telephone

e-Governance Make significant contribution in establishing good governance in the country To stop the corruption by introducing transparency Government has given serious consideration for its introduction

e-Commerce is not progressing because poor network infrastructure lack of human resources absence of related rules Government has formed a committee to Standardization Interoperability e-Commerce facilitates business community

e-Banking Most of the bank use the computerized system But they do not yet offer online or e-service Standard Chartered Bank first launched Internet banking A seven bank consortium offers now e-banking

IT Policy A national IT policy has been drafted and under consideration in the parliament In the draft, the computer education has been given top priority

Intellectual Proprietary Rights (IPR) Laws In 2000, Government approved IPR Law The law enforcing agency being unfamiliar with the application So, still wide spread pirated software is used Data security and interoperability will be promoted through setting up encryption standard and international agreements on interoperability

IT (Electronic Transaction) Acts In May 2002, Government announced plan to legislate e-commerce Legislation of digital signature and electronic document is underway The Bangladesh Law commission has drafted IT act circulated among stakeholders designed to cover cyber crimes

Nationwide Internet and Data Network A variety of data network are slowly emerging Digital Switches capable of services such as ISDN have been installed nationwide Various organizations have, or are in the process of installing LAN Internet backbone required for data communication, software development, data entry require to be upgraded

Transmission System mainly composed of microwave, UHF and VHF radio links major links are star formation network structure use of optical fiber is presently limited within some city areas connecting local exchange and remote RSU all thana headquarters (smallest administrative units) are connected with their respective districts through radio links

Transmission System (continued) majority of the network is operated by Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) amongst the private operators, BRTA have established a microwave link between Dhaka and Sylhet Grameen are upgrading fiber optic cable network of bangladesh railway established a 140 Mbit/s microwave link between Khulna and Chittagong via Barisal

International Communication Facility Standard A Satellite Earth Station in 1975 at Betbunia to work with INTELSAT system Second Satellite Earth Station at Talibabad International Subscriber Dialling (ISD) facility in December 1983 Satellite earth station along with an International Trunk Exchange (ITX) was commissioned in Mohakhali, Dhaka in Direct Satellite Link between Sylhet and London in June, 1995

International Switching Center Three International Switching Center (ISC) One at Mohakhali Two at Mogbazar

International Maritime Satellite INMARSAT provides mobile communication services for ships and aircrafts. BTTB have five INMARSAT – A terminals operating through (land Earth Station) LES located at Jeddah

International VSAT Services Communication established through geostationary satellite (in this region ASIASAT). Five-year BOT agreement with Pak DataCom Allowed for corporate data communication and cannnot be terminated to any public switched telephone network (PSTN)

Digital Data Network (DDN) In Dhaka and three other major cities Plans to extend for all of the 64 districts An X.25 Packet Switched Data Network (PSDN) in Dhaka and five other cities in 1994 Inter-city connectivity through microwave link The cable TV network is being considered as a future option of data transfer

establish a national IP gateway interconnect the local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) connect ISPs to the PSTN through E1 trunks introduce packet switch along with the existing circuit switched PSTN offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) InfoBahn Project

In 1996, first provider is ISN Connection charge is as low as 50 paisa (1.2 JPY) per minute About 80% is service Registered with ISP 1,00,000 users Total Internet users is 3,20,000 Mainly Dhaka Based Few ISPs are at Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna Internet Service Providers

Underdeveloped IT industry Limited trained human resources Poor telecommunication infrastructure Low level of computer literacy Widespread poverty Limited point of presence of ISPs Lack of software and content in Bangla Constraints on Internet Growth

Human Resources Government fixes top priority in developing human resources At present country produces around 2000 graduates in IT related field Target was to produce 10,000 programmer by 2001, but it did not achieved Renowned public Institutes are BUET, DU, JU, SUST, RU etc Private University – NSU, AUST, EWU, AMA, UAP, etc

IT Training Institutes Short training – specially vendor specific These training get obsolete as the product changes A strong background in IT is necessary Most of the institutes are just commercial No standard is maintained Lack of good trainer Lack of up-to-date Syllabus

Measures for HRD Uniform course curricula Adequate Internet facility High Speed campus backbone Qualified faculty appointment Strengthen PG programme Enhance laboratory facilities On line books/Journal facility Internship in industry More funds for good institutes

Connectivity in Educational Institutes Use of computers is not encouraging Most of the universities have their own VSAT BUET has its own, speed 512 kbps/128 kbps Internally most of the institutions are not networked Bangladesh Education and Research Network (BERNET) provides connectivity for nine universities

BERNET The central node of BUGC is connected to a local ISP Two universities are connected to BUGC through radio modem Nine other universities are connected through dial-up telephone link , www, ftp, remote log-in, database services are provided The maintenance is poor

Recommendation The connectivity through submarine cable should immediately be established IT training should be substantially encouraged in nation through formal and non-formal means. Government and private initiative should be realized and encouraged to establish cyber cafes to allow wide access to Internet VoIP and private international gateway for data and voice should allowed

Recommendation (continued) The fiber optic cable laid along railway tract should be further utilized BTRC should be allowed to work without government influence and control BTTB should be privatize Proper cabling should be done to avoid bandwidth limitation IT (Electronic Signature) Acts should immediately be implemented

Conclusion The present government has recognized IT as thrust sector A large number of bright students and entrepreneurs have shown interest in IT Strong data network within the country and between the country and outside world are necessary Not only equipment but also training is necessary for maintaining the system