Poor network quality shrinks 4G usage
Poor network quality is forcing mobile data users in Bangladesh to consume only one-tenth of what Indians are using every month on average, Jerry Wang, chief technology officer of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh), said yesterday.
Bangladesh's mobile data users are currently consuming 1.2 gigabytes (GB) of data on average every month.
The mobile operators in Bangladesh are using the same technology as their counterparts in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore but there is a huge gap in service quality, Wang said.
In Bangladesh, the 4G speed is even less than 7 Mbps and in some cases it comes down to 3Mbps speed, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The operators cannot even ensure 2Mbps speed for 3G.
“From the technology point of view there is no issue. The operators of other countries are using the same technology and they are getting much higher speed.”
Wang's comments came at the curtain raiser for the daylong summit styled 'Advancing Digital Bangladesh, 2019', jointly organised by Telecom Reporters' Network Bangladesh (TRNB) and Huawei on Sunday.
At the event, Huawei will present its latest innovations, which they have already demonstrated in the Mobile World Congress in February.
Even three years ago, the average mobile data usage in a month in India was 1GB. Today, it is 10GB, Wang said.
“Bangladesh can also reach that goal within the shortest possible time if some issues are fixed,” he added.
In Sri Lanka, the mobile operators have complete control of the infrastructure, said Nazmul Hasan, director for marketing at Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh).
But in Bangladesh, a mobile operator needs to take fibre network from one company and tower service from another.
Scarcity of fibre optic network is the major reason for the poor 4G quality and it will be even more acute for 5G, Hasan said.
Bangladesh is planning for rollout 5G service by the end of 2021. It tested 5G in July last year, becoming the sixth country in the world to do so. Huawei started its carrier business in Bangladesh in 2006 and is now supplying equipment to all the telecom service providers.
