BTRC celebrated Universal Acceptance Day 2025 with the aim of building a multilingual internet management. Technologists, researchers, stakeholders in the telecommunications sector, and officials from various government and private organizations were present at the technical workshop and special conference organized jointly by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and the Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF) and in collaboration with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). On the occasion of the day, BTRC Chairman Major General (Retd.) Md. Emdad-ul-Bari launched BTRC’s own website and email application on the ‘BTRC.Bangla’ domain.
In his opening remarks, BTRC Director General (Engineering and Operations) Brigadier General Shafiul Azam Parvez highlighted the context and importance of Universal Acceptance Day. In his welcome speech, BIGF Secretary General Mr. Mohammad Abdul Haque Anu sought BTRC’s cooperation in popularizing the .bangla domain. He highlighted the various joint initiatives of BIGF and BTRC in this regard.
In his keynote speech, Mohammad Mamunur Rashid, Associate Professor of the Department of Bangla, Jahangirnagar University, said that 49.2 percent of the content on the Internet is in English, while the English-speaking population in the world is only 16%. As a result, people of many languages in many countries are unable to use Internet content in their own language. He gave a detailed and informative presentation on the use of Bengali language on the Internet and the context of Universal Acceptance, its economic importance and potential. Stating that AI models including ChatGPT have given more emphasis on English and Western languages, he said, it is important to ensure internet-centric content, interfaces and internet use in different languages in Bengali. This is absolutely essential for the economic, cultural and technological development of our country, nation and society.
BTRC Deputy Director Dr. Shamsujoha shed light on the technical aspects of Universal Acceptance. He mentioned that new top-level domains will be allocated in 2026. There is huge potential for Bangladesh in this. Joint public-private initiatives, including entrepreneurs interested in utilizing this opportunity, should be taken.
Connecting online, Mr. Sameeran Gupta, Vice President and Managing Director of ICANN’s Asia Pacific Region, said that multilingual internet facilities are important for those who are not English speakers. Speaking about ICANN’s overall work program on domain names, especially Universal Acceptance, he said that ICANN is ready to provide any engineering and technical assistance in this regard.
Mr. Sajid Rahman, Director of ICANN Board, said, “Although the Internet was launched to connect everyone, it has created divisions in many cases due to language. If we want to build an inclusive digital future, we must give all people an equal opportunity to connect with the Internet. For this reason, this initiative of BTRC is very important. As a result, it will be possible to effectively create an ecosystem of Universal Acceptance with all stakeholders.
BTCL’s Domain Division Manager Mr. Mustafa Al Mamun and Amber IT’s Mr. Mahfuzur Rahman highlighted the technical challenges of universal use of any language in the Internet world. They said that continuous work will be needed to develop software and technical engineering for the successful implementation of Universal Acceptance.
In his speech, BTRC Chairman Major General (Retd.) Md. Emdad ul Bari said that there is no alternative to mother tongue for communication. In many cases, expressing oneself in another language becomes more complicated. Many times, social and cultural issues cannot be expressed in another language. To reduce the digital divide, the gap in connectivity and internet usage must be reduced.
In the technical session, Champika Wijayatunga, Technical Engagement Manager for ICANN’s Asia Pacific region, provided hands-on training on Universal Language Access (UA), Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) and Email Address Internationalization (EAI).
Among others, BTRC Spectrum Division Commissioner Mahmud Hossain, BIGF Chairperson Mohammad Aminul Hakim and other BTRC officials were present at the event.
