About 45 percent of families in Bangladesh remain without internet services, according to the ‘ICT Application and Usage’ survey released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Thursday.
The survey reveals that while 98.9 percent of households use mobile phones and 72.7 percent use smartphones, internet services are accessed by only 55.9 percent of families.
This indicates that nearly 45 percent of the population is still deprived of internet facilities despite the high number of mobile phone users.
The BBS data also highlights a significant gender divide in information and communication technology usage. Currently, 56.6 percent of men use the internet, whereas the rate for women is just over 50.2 percent.
In terms of mobile phone usage, 90 percent of men and 86.8 percent of women are users, but a larger gap exists in ownership.
Seventy percent of men own at least one mobile phone, while only 58.9 percent of women have their own device. Smartphone usage stands at 50.1 percent for men and 40.6 percent for women.
The methodology used by the BBS defines a household as an internet user if at least one member of the family uses the service, which results in household usage rates being higher than those recorded at an individual level.
According to these criteria, the rate of families using the internet is now 55.1 percent. The survey further notes that the number of households that do not use any form of mobile phone is extremely low, at approximately 1 percent.
In addition to telecommunications, the survey provided updated figures on other household amenities and electronic devices.
Electricity connections are now available to 98.5 percent of families, and televisions are present in 59.6 percent of households.
However, computer ownership remains low at just 9 percent of households.
The survey also found that 15.3 percent of families in the country continue to use radios.
