High speed internet in households by 2025: Palak

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak has announced to provide internet services to 100% of the people by 2025. He also informed about the decision to implement four proposals of the newly elected committee of Internet Service Provider (ISPAB), which plans to provide internet connection to every household in the country by connecting fiber optic to every village. The state minister made the remarks at a press conference after a meeting with the newly elected executive committee of the ISPAB on Monday morning. He called on the ICT family to work together to make the Internet a "fifth basic service", emphasizing the importance of making the Internet easier and more accessible. To turn villages into cities referring ‘internet as the lifeline of digital economy', Palak said, "We want to bring high speed internet to every household as electricity has reached every household." A working committee headed by Director General of the ICT Department Rezaul Maqsood Jahedi has been constituted today to convey this last-line solution through the members of ISPAB. ISPAB President is the coordinator of this committee. He further said that Internet service providers have played the most important role in providing affordable high speed internet services to all. So we will work as a family to build an innovative Bangladesh. In a short span of time, I will try to establish one lakh nine thousand connectivity through the members of ISPAB to deliver fiber optic cable to the villages by 2024 under the Public Procurement Rules. Referring ISPAB as one of the partners in the implementation of Digital Bangladesh, Palak further said, "We will write to the Board of Revenue to make routers, switches import tax free for internet service providers and to include their services in ITES services to implement internet services at low cost." The ICT department will also co-operate in setting up a 'Digital Network Lab' through ISPAB to keep children safe on the Internet and to keep Internet content disciplined. Speaking on the occasion, ISPAB President Imdadul Haque said, discussions were held to complete the transformation of the country into a digital Bangladesh. Underground internet connection established at 2600 union level ISP member organization will work to provide internet to those areas from house to house. It will be implemented in the next 6 months. Speaking on the occasion, NM Zeaul Alam, Senior Secretary, Department of ICT, said that in today's meeting, the Minister of State has identified the existing problems and paved the way for resolving them. We will implement it. Among others who were present at the press conference were ISPRAB Director Zakir Hossain, Managing Director of Hi-tech Park Authority Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, ISPAB Secretary General Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan, Senior Vice President Saiful Islam Siddique, Co-President Anwarul Azim and Joint Secretary Anwar Hossain, Treasurer Md. Asaduzzaman, Director Sakif Ahmed and others.