Khalid Quadir ‘04 and bracNET in Daily Star
Brac brings internet to rural homes
bracNET, an affiliation of Brac, the world’s largest non-government organisation, has recently launched e-Hut to give internet access to people in rural areas of Bangladesh.
Through e-Hut the people living in the remote corners of the country will have access to the internet at an affordable price. While explaining the programme, bracNET officials said e-Hut is a one-stop shop of different types of digital services including internet browsing, basic computer training, photocopying, scanning, digital photo taking and lamination of documents and photos.
Moreover, e-Huts are franchisees of bracNET and owned by local entrepreneurs, thus, it would facilitate young people to be self-reliant.
Khalid Quadir, chief executive officer (CEO) of bracNET said, “Our mission is to disseminate internet data connectivity to people in rural areas by 2008. bracNet’s e-Hut franchisees will also be encouraged to become “bracNet Partner” in their respective communities to provide online connectivity.
The e-Hut programme is not a charity, rather a business. It would follow a shared model as did the village phone, he said adding, “We don’t need a master’s degree or a PhD person to carry out the mission. What we need is an educated person, who would establish an e-Hut to empower himself and bring the community to the global information network.”
It requires two to three lakh taka to start a business, which people interested to launch the business can get from small and medium enterprises (SME) services from banks. Officials concerned said Brac Bank has rendered help to people in this respect.
At first, an entrepreneur will have to purchase a few computers and other logistics. The entrepreneurs will get the radio modem after paying the small security deposit. Even though radio modems cost Tk 80,000 the entrepreneurs will only have to deposit Tk 30,000.
BracNET has already established three e-Huts in Dhaka division, one in Badda in the capital and the other two in Gazipur. Babu, owner of Linda Land Business and Telecom Centre, said every morning his shop becomes crowded with people. A number of the customers are interested in politics and they come to read different national dailies’ online editions. He said he charges his customers Tk 20 per hour.
Babu said only from internet surfing he earns around Tk 800 a day. He offers basic computer courses as well where each trainee is paying Tk 1500 for the course. The basic computer literacy course offers students and professionals to come and learn how to operate computers.
He said a few industries and residents of the area wanted to be internet-connected via the e-Hut.
“Since I can provide WiMAX service, a wide area broadband internet, the people already connected to the information superhighway expressed their satisfaction as they are getting facilities like superior non-line-of-sight (NLOS) performance, built-in quality services and interference-free licensed frequency,” he said.
Replying to a query Babu said currently e-Hut offers three types for internet connectivity — for business people, for the neighbourhood and for SMEs.
Citing the example of a shop owner who is now earning Tk 35,000 a month, M Abu Taleb, project manager of e-Hut, said the project is a unique opportunity for young people to be self-reliant.
“The objective is to help young people become self-reliant and bracNET will get its share of benefits,” he said.
“Once I took technology-enabled training and now through skills training, content, curricular and other new resources which the partnership with bracNET assures, will surely expand the ongoing development efforts and will encourage the latent creativity to give an answer to the most pressing development challenges,” he expressed.
CEO Khalid Quadir hopes by the end of the year they will be able to establish another ten shops at Shahbagh, Taltola, Dhamrai, Shofipur, Kamlapur and in Chittagong and Sylhet. He said, bracNET family is quite satisfied with the response it has started to get from different quarters of the country.
Find the article at http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/11/25/d6112501149.htm