Country has 8 thousand crore taka mobile phone market

At present the country has mobile phone market worth 8 thousand crore taka. To meet the demand huge number of mobile phone sets is being imported. As a result the same amount of money is going to overseas. State Minister for Post and Telecommunication Tarana Halim said this.

She said this while answering to treasury bench law maker Bazlul Haque Harun’s star marked question in the parliament on Tuesday.

The state minister said, to stop illegal import of mobile phones government has taken initiatives for producing and marketing mobile sets through Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS) under Post and Telecommunication division.

She said, an agreement was signed between TSS and OK Mobile Limited in 2014 in this regard. Under the agreement a mobile phone set production and assembling plant was established in TSS. From this plant 37 thousand mobile sets and 8 hundred tabs were produced, assembled and marketed so far.

Tarana Halim said, at present the country has 13 crore 59 lakh 82 thousand mobile phone subscribers and the number is increasing day by day.

She said, with a view to build digital Bangladesh mobile phone production, assembling and marketing are encouraged through different government activities such as, to save huge amount of foreign currency, making manpower with skilled technological knowledge, to attract foreign investment, creating new employment opportunity in the country, to stop illegal import, making new sector for the local investors, ensuring supply of smart phone to all the subscriber at the grass root level and increasing the number of mobile phone internet users.

Tarana Halim said, the government has fixed one percent tax on import of mobile spare parts to produce and assemble mobile phone sets in the country.

ah//y/c