E-commerce losing Tk70cr, telcos count 33% drop in recharge daily
Online commerce is losing Tk60-Tk70 crore revenue every day, according to Shahab Uddin, vice president of E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh.
Internet is the only medium of operation for e-commerce, outsourcing services, and freelancers. Internet blackout since Thursday means people who are involved in these services are now without work.
Online commerce is losing Tk60-Tk70 crore revenue every day, according to Shahab Uddin, vice president of E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Association of Contact Center and Outsourcing Association's President Wahid Sharif said 400 of its members together produce business process outsourcing services worth over $3 million a day.
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Two-thirds of the industry revenue used to come from exports by serving global companies and the remaining one-third revenue is generated from the home market, he said.
"Without internet it all came to zero," added Sharif.
The loss is also not small for the country's software industry as no internet and the curfew together halted their operations, said Syed Almas Kabir, former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.
"Individual online freelancers' daily loss might look smaller like a million, but I believe it is manifolds higher, unofficially," he added.
Telecom operators, which was facing up to 42% drop in daily recharge after internet blackout, is recovering as their efforts to reenergise the traditional cellular code-based recharge is helping more app-dependent people buying mobile balance.
However, recharge is still down by 33%, if compared to the usual business days that see an average of Tk100 crore in recharges by subscribers of all four mobile operators.
Voice calls, which surged by around 30%, now is 20-22% higher than the usual days, while SMS usage was 20%-25% higher nationally, according to telecom operators.
Robi Axiata's Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer Shahed Alam told TBS, "As curfew relaxation hours increased, we could help facilitate more recharge. Also, the awareness campaigns through TV ads for credit balance and USSD recharge helped people relearning those after many days."
