Bangladesh unveils £83 laptop

The state-owned telecoms company Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS) is producing four models of the laptop. The most basic one is priced at 10,000 taka (£83). The primary model runs the android operating system. Initially, the laptop will be distributed to various government departments. But later on they will be made available to the public and to tens of millions of students.

Managing Director, Mohammad Ismail of TSS commented: “This is a big step towards building a digital Bangladesh. When villages get laptops at a cheaper price they will be connected to the internet and that will bring lots of benefits.” Currently Bangladesh is producing 10% of the components for the laptop and the rest are imported. However, Ms Ismail expects “within six months we will be able to produce 60% of the components.”

However, the country’s internet connectivity remains poor and critics have raised doubts whether the distribution of laptops alone will help the country to connect digitally. The government has launched an ambitious plan, known as Digital Bangladesh, with the aim of digitally connecting the country by 2021. “Every part of the country will be brought under e-governance, while the telecommunication system is being modernised to cut the digital divide,” Sheikh Hasina said during the inauguration.

Commonwealth Contractors

At
Commonwealth Contractors we partner with OISC Registered Private
Immigration Firms and Tier 2 Licensed Healthcare and IT Consultancies
who may be prepared, where required, to sponsor an individual on a Tier 2
Visa (formerly UK Work Permit). If you are a highly skilled
International professional and you would like to work in the UK
Commonwealth Contractors can help. Our OISC Registered Partners
specialise in Tier 1 General (formerly Highly Skilled Migrant Programme)
visa applications and can assist those highly skilled individuals that
either wish to apply or extend a Tier 1 General Visa.

For more
Information call Commonwealth Contractors now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit
your Details and we will get right back to you. Please see other areas
of the Commonwealth Contractors site for interesting articles on tax,
immigration and contracting.