Cross Talk
The telecom principle of patriotism
Not to worry if you haven't heard this expression before. It hasn't appeared in any textbook. It hasn't been discussed in seminars and workshops or debated in classrooms. But the telecom principle of patriotism does exist. It simply means that the love of country is directly proportionate to prospective cash flow. You only need to watch television commercials if you are looking for proof.
Measured by the airtime of commercials, the telecom operators should top the list of patriots in this country. Be it Language Movement, Liberation War, Independence Day or Victory Day, these companies are shelf-ready with an appropriate footage for national occasions. They probably give more sound bites to love of this country than the rest of us combined.
Three professors from New Economic School, London Business School and Cambridge University have conducted a study, which explains why. In their report submitted on March 30, 2007, they determined what is called the Mobile Development Index (MDI). The index measures the attractiveness of the mobile industry in each country from the investors' viewpoint, and reflects key country-specific factors that determine the future profitability of mobile companies.
Guess what? In 2006 the MDI for Bangladesh was the highest in the world, followed by China and India. That explains the phenomenal growth in the telecom industry in Bangladesh. The number of subscribers rose to 34.37 million in 2007, a whopping 58% increase over 21.77 million in 2006.
But, what makes us the most attractive country for mobile business? Population, of course, is the main factor. Then high population density also makes it easy for network expansion. Then there are these likely subjunctives. We could be the most talkative nation in the world. May be, we like to stay connected more than any other nation on earth. Nearly 240,000 people are working so that we can talk day and night.
It's impressive that the telecom operators have discovered the secret tunnel of mass appeal. They have chosen the way to the heart of people through their love of country. It's quite interesting that five out of the six mobile companies are either largely or fully foreign owned, and Bangladesh ought to be more a market than a country to them. Let us not kid ourselves that the patriotism resonating in their commercials should be anything more than sales promotion.
And this is how it works. If Karl Marx had called religion "the opium of the masses," patriotism has been used as opium in the telecom business. For that reason, the telecom companies deserve our wholehearted appreciation. They have successfully identified the softest spot in our minds and turned it into a marketing tool.
The historians claim that the bridge between 19th and 20th centuries was the occupation and enslavement of the African continent. The Europeans went there for the raw materials essential to fuel the Industrial Revolution. In the Belgian Congo alone, an estimated 10 million Africans were killed by the Belgians, who used Africans as slave labour to harvest rubber for bicycles and then for automobiles.
The connection is that what works on the supply side of market doesn't work on the demand side. In other words, it worked to kill for raw materials, but the same brutality can't sell finished products. In the new technique of enslavement, the consumers ought to be wooed. Their minds must be captured in a hypnotic frenzy so that they will impulsively reach for their pockets induced by the compulsive lure of consumption.
The good news is that the successful marketing gimmick of the mobile companies is a testimony to our patriotic zeal. It confirms that this extraordinary sentiment still burns in our hearts, that our emotions are still swayed by the love of this country so much so that others can easily cash out on this emotion and make windfall profits.
That sounds familiar, because our politicians also do the same thing. So do our bureaucrats, businessmen and anybody and everybody who have the means to rouse and exploit the sentiments of our common people. This is where the Telecom Principle comes into play, creating an ersatz culture of commercial patriotism, mining into the hearts and minds of our people, extracting the raw materials to build private fortunes.
The pattern is that all power groups, foreign and domestic, are aligned towards the same objective. And here is the proof. When the telecom operators started their business in Bangladesh, they had signed contracts to share 15% of their revenues with the government. Subsequently, a number of options were devised during the Awami League regime, which allowed the mobile companies to share only 5.5% of their revenues with the government. When the 4-party alliance came to power, they did nothing.
As if that wasn't enough, some of these mobile operators ran illegal VoIP business to make even more money. That is the catch of the Telecom Principle, that when people are being whipped up in their patriotic frenzy, the country is quietly plundered. By and large that is the face of neocolonialism. People are free to love the tree, so long as the fruits go to the vested interests.
Take the basic premise of the Telecom Principle and GATCO, Niko, Mig-29 down to pilferage of relief materials unravel as parts of the same obsessive whole. In 1952, students laid down their lives for the mother tongue, but leaders never stopped sending their children to English medium schools.
In 1971, common people fought and died for freedom, but leaders abused that freedom to grow fat and rich. In 1990, it was again the people who shed their blood in the struggle for democracy, and meet some of its beneficiaries inside our prisons!
The ultimate lesson of the Telecom Principle of Patriotism is that it isn't enough to love the country, unless people are beware of those who want to harm them. When you hear the next ring tone, think before you take the call. The cost to the country runs as long as you talk.
Mohammad Badrul Ahsan is a columnist for The Daily Star.
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