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Bangladesh has continued to witness a rise in the number of broadband connections with the severity of the pandemic waning remarkably while mobile operators have been losing internet subscribers in recent months.
The number of mobile internet subscribers dropped 1.7 per cent month-on-month in January to 11.17 crore, according to the latest data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
That means the operators lost 19.60 lakh customers in one month.
About 74 lakh customers have been lost by the operators since October last year when the number of mobile internet users reached an all-time high of 11.91 crore.
However, on a year-on-year basis, the number of mobile internet users rose 8.34 per cent in January.
On the other hand, broadband connections have been on the rise since the pandemic surfaced.
The number of clients rose by 10,000 month-on-month in January to 10.10 crore. The number of broadband subscribers rose by 5 per cent year-on-year in January.
Many schools and educational institutions are still availing broadband connections, pushing up the numbers, said Aminul Hakim, former president of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB).
“In spite of the pandemic situation having improved, many schools, especially those outside of Dhaka, are now introducing a hybrid system where they take both in person and online classes,” he said.
Hakim, who is the CEO of internet service provider Amber IT, said before the pandemic, 70 per cent of the demand for broadband was from cities like Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet.
“Now, over 60 per cent of the new clients come from outside the capital and major cities,” he said, adding that the demand for broadband connections would continue to rise in the coming months.
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said the main reason was that use of the internet had become a digital necessity for the people.
“People no longer use the internet only for Facebook or other social media. Now it is essential for many other crucial works and faster internet connections are needed for that,” he said.
The use of broadband internet will rise in the future as the government is expanding optical fiber networks across the country, Jabbar added.
GP, Robi lose customers, Banglalink, Teletalk gain
The number of customers of Robi Axiata, the second largest mobile operator which crossed the 5 crore subscribers landmark in September 2020, grew by 4.9 per cent year-on-year in January to reach 5.35 crore.
During the same month in 2021, it was 5.11 crore.
The operator lost about 1 lakh customers in January compared to that a month earlier. The operator had lost almost the same number of customers in December last year.
Market leader Grameenphone’s total mobile phone customers jumped 4.11 per cent to 8.30 crore in January 2022 from 7.75 crore in January 2021.
However, the operator lost over 4 lakh customers in January this year compared to that a month earlier. The operator had lost another 5 lakh customers in December last year compared to the preceding month.
Third-placed Banglalink grew it customer numbers by 5.35 per cent year-on-year in January to reach 3.74 crore.
The operator added about 2 lakh new customers in January compared to that a month earlier.
The number of customers of state-owned Teletalk, which lags behind all the private operators by a big margin, rose 24 per cent year-on-year in January to reach 67 lakh.
Teletalk added about 1 lakh customers in January compared to that a month earlier.
Md Shahab Uddin, managing director Teletalk Bangladesh, said they had expanded their network in remote areas, including haors and Chittagong Hill Tracts, and that contributed to its rising customer base.
“We are running a project titled expansion of the Teletalk network up to rural areas including 5G readiness and we will take the high-speed internet to union levels with this project,” he added.
(TDS)
