5G-powered solutions to make life easier in Bangladesh

Imagine one of your family members having a serious medical condition. You try to take him to a hospital on an ambulance but get stuck in the endless traffic jam of Dhaka. And his condition gets worse and he needs a surgery immediately – on the ambulance. 

But there is no doctor but an assistant in the ambulance and you start wishing that you had a doctor right at the moment to conduct the surgery.

A smart solution – "connected ambulance" of the Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericsson – is there to tackle such an emergency.

The company showcased a demonstration of its "connected ambulance" in the country's first "Digital Bangladesh Fair" organised by the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology's Posts and Telecommunication Division on Thursday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. 

Using the technology, an assistant can conduct surgery in the ambulance, wearing specially manufactured gloves and a doctor can give direction from his chamber with a joystick, sending signals to the gloves. The doctor and assistant will remain connected in a live video chat during the whole process. 

But in Bangladesh, currently, the solution is not working because the technology demands high-speed internet connection and 4G is not good enough to run this kind of technology. 

Once 5G technology is launched in Bangladesh, there will be no barrier to using this kind of advanced technologies.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission already announced in last October that it planned to roll out 5G in Bangladesh by 2021.

Ahead of the government plan to launch 5G, not only Ericsson, but many other technological and telecommunication equipment manufacturing and selling farms are demonstrating many smart solutions that run only on 5G network, for the first time in Bangladesh to give people a 5G experience and to show future technologies. 

"People are yet to understand the real uses of high-speed internet. Those who think it only means uninterrupted video calls, these demonstrations are for them," said Tanvir Asif, network engineer of Ericsson Bangladesh.

While Chinese telecommunications equipment company ZTE showcased a smart solution, "Cloud XR Education", which can help teachers give lessons from distance and one can have the real experience of visiting many places, using virtual reality (VR) gadgets. 

Public Relation Manager of the ZTE Corporation Bangladesh Md Oliullah Rafat, said, "The reason behind showcasing this product is to show what is next for Bangladesh and how people will benefit when 5G is launched in Bangladesh."

Many local brands showcased their upcoming products at the fair. The Walton introduced two new Laptop models in the fair, EX310G and EX710G Premium, without disclosing the prices 

Rashed Khan, one of the visitors, said, "I see many amazing advance technological features in the fair. I think it will make our lives simple and save time."

On Thursday, the fair attracted a lot of people, who came to watch the upcoming smart solutions and facilities.

Total 82 companies including various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) participated in the fair in 25 stalls, 29 mini pavilions and 28 pavilions.