‘8.2% households can’t access internet’

A total of 8.2 per cent of households in Bangladesh can not avail internet despite their interests and needs due to its unavailability in the areas where they live.

Internet is still not available in 8.8 per cent of rural areas and 4.7 per cent of urban areas, according to the preliminary report of a national survey.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in collaboration with the Statistics and Informatics Division under the planning ministry conducted the survey.

The BBS recently published a report, “Survey on ICT Use and Access by Individuals and Households 2022”, disclosing the findings of the survey.

According to the report, 38.1 per cent of households in the country have internet connections. Only 29.7 per cent of rural households use the internet while 63.4 per cent of urban households have internet connections.

The report said that a total of 97.4 per cent of households have mobile phones in the country, but 63.1 per cent of them do not feel the need to use the internet. Around 52.2 per cent of the Bangladesh population has smartphone access; the percentage is highest in Dhaka division at 54.2 per cent and the lowest in Rajshahi division at 19.7 per cent.

In terms of access to mobile phones, the female population beat the male population by 0.1 percentage point – males 89.9 per cent and females 90 per cent, the survey also found.

It said the rate of internet users in the total population rose from 6.7 per cent in 2013 to 38.9 per cent in 2022.

Mobile usage rate also increased from 81.7 per cent in 2013 to 89.9 per cent to 2022. The ratio of computer users also increased during that time.

The report also said that currently, 89.9 per cent of individuals use mobile phones; of them, 30.9 per cent use smartphones. The use of mobile phones at the household level is 52.2 per cent.

At the individual level, among 7.4 per cent of computer users, 63.1 per cent of them are not interested in using the internet. The BBS conducted the survey on 30,816 households and 1,12,600 individuals.

According to the BBS survey, 41 per cent of smartphone users are between the ages of 15 and 64.

The survey further pointed out that 64 per cent of rural and 58 per cent of urban people do not feel the need to use the internet. Around 48.2 per cent of people find the internet expensive and 35 per cent consider internet usage tools expensive.

In the most backward northern region of Rajshahi division, 19.7 per cent of households use the internet and 32 per cent use smartphones. In Rangpur, 34.8 per cent of people use mobile phones. Dhaka is the most advanced in the use of computers, internet, mobile, and smartphones. And Barishal is lagging behind in computer usage with only 4 per cent.