Guideline drafted for walkie-talkie, IoT device manufacturing
The telecom regulator has drafted a guideline to provide go-ahead to native firm to maker and assemble devices linked to telecom services.
The list of devices includes the web of Things (IoT) units, but excludes cell phones.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) took this initiative so as to help the country are more self-reliant in the IT industry amid the fourth professional revolution, which has been marked by increasing automation across all sectors.
According to the draft guideline, two types of enlistment certificates will get awarded to interested applicants.
For category A, the applicant will need to have an adequate production capability and its particular testing laboratory with state-of-the-art conveniences alongside a standardised structure for marketing and export.
Each laboratory will be asked to have various assessment facilities so that it is possible to produce world-class telecom-related wi-fi equipment in Bangladesh.
For category B, the applicant doesn't need to truly have a testing laboratory of its but can instead contract exterior testing lab because of its products.
The BTRC will seek the opinions of varied, stakeholders, researchers and experts before finalising the draft.
The merchandise which are permitted for domestic production and assembling are industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) equipment.
This includes radio frequency-based devices, such as transmission antennas and Walkie-Talkie sets, and also IoT devices like repeaters, boosters and Bluetooth devices.
The move will generate opportunities for native entrepreneurs to manufacture and assemble the products, said Brigadier General Md Shahidul Alam, director general for Spectrum Division at the BTRC.
"This will also make sure that consumers work with low-cost telecommunications products and reduce the scope for the federal government to lose earnings by curbing against the law imports," he told The Daily Star.
Besides, this initiative might improve the country's tech-savy manpower by creating employment opportunities in the technical field. It will facilitate foreign exchange income through the export of telecommunication assistance related devices, Alam added.
Bangladesh previously assembles and manufactures most of the handsets retailed by best brands thanks to a BTRC plan that awards enlistment certificates to native entities.
The federal government first introduced a tax policy for assemblers in fiscal year 2017-18, that was later on revised in the budgets of 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Walton became the country's first enterprise to create a cellular phone assembly plant found in October 2017 and commenced locally assembling all of its handsets since mid-2018.
Currently, there is a 57 % tax in smartphone imports and 32 % on basic and show phones as the tax on locally assembled and manufactured handsets is 18 % and 13 % respectively.
At present, there are about 10 regional assemblers that meet 75 % of the country's smartphone demand, according to the official of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Manufacturing Association (BMPMA).
Around 8.5 lakh smartphones can be purchased in the country every month.
Asked whether the makers and assemblers of IT related products are certain to get such reductions in the tax policy, Alam said the commission is talking about it with the Countrywide Board of Revenue.
The enlistment certificate for category A will definitely cost Tk 15 lakh and will be valid for a decade while it will cost 7.5 lakh for renewals.
For category B, it will cost Tk 10 lakh for the first 10-time period and Tk 5 lakh for renewals.
Native software developer DataSoft Systems already started large-scale assembly in a variety of gizmos and IoT devices, such as smart security and bio-medical facilities.
"Bangladesh may become a hub to make different IoT devices but also for that, we shouldn't introduce excessive service fees that could impede small entrepreneurs from getting into this business," Mahboob Zaman, managing director of DataSoft, told The Daily Superstar.
