Govt hooking 626 edu instts up with broadband internet

In pursuit to further push forward the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ goal, government is soon taking broadband internet connectivity to all public universities, colleges and training institutes. 

Sources at the Posts and Telecommunications Division said that country’s 626 government colleges, universities and training institutes will be provided with uninterrupted broadband internet connection under a Tk 44.98 crore project to be accomplished by end of next year. 

To bring this connectivity to all these academic institutions a total of 1041 km fiber optical cables have to be laid.  

Official sources said they believe that internet will enable students to access e-learning, video conferencing and other digital facilities – to catch up with global trends.

Posts and Telecommunications Division had initially sent a Development Project Proposal (DPP) to the Planning Commission in this regard proposing for a budget of Tk 24.9 crore and a timeline from March 2018 to February 2019 to provide broadband internet to 437academic institutions.

However, the DPP was later modified for approval back in April this year to accommodate 626 institutions, at a cost of Tk 44.98 crore. Its project duration has been set from July this year till December 2019.

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology (ICT) Minister Mustafa Jabbar told UNB that he has directed Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) to show progress regarding the project by September this year.

Citing it as an important project towards ‘Digital Bangladesh’, he added that “The internet will enable our students to cope with the global learning practices and they will not fall behind.”

Sources at the ministry acknowledged sending relevant directive to BTCL and added that the progress will gain traction once a project director is recruited, hopefully within the next one or two months.

The government has already taken initiatives to set up broadband internet connection across all the district cities, upazila towns and union parishads.

Source: unb