Bangladesh’s telcos lose 73.4 lakh internet connections in 3 months

The number of active mobile internet connections in Bangladesh dropped for the third consecutive month in January after six months of increase as many people resumed in-person activities amid a gradual decline in Covid infection cases.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission data showed that the number of active mobile internet connections dropped by 73.4 lakh in between November 2021 and January 2022.

The active mobile internet connections reached a record high of 11.91 crore at the end of October 2021, but had gradually dropped to 11.18 crore at the end of January 2022.

In November 2021, the number of active mobile internet connections dropped by 25.8 lakh, it dropped by 28 lakh in December 2021 and 19.5 lakh in January 2022.

Apart from the mobile internet connections, there were another 1.01 crore broadband connections in the country, taking the total number of internet connections to 12.19 crore at the end of January 2022.

Officials of the mobile phone operators said that the country’s data connections and usage rose manifolds after the Covid outbreak as people had to depend on internet connections for their day-to-day activities.

People’s dependency on internet connections has declined gradually as they have started resuming in-person activities since the Covid infection cases declined in the second half of 2021.

So, the number of in-person programmes and activities has increased in recent months.

The people’s dependency on internet connections declined, the mobile phone officials said.

The number of active mobile phone connections also posted a negative growth in the period under consideration.

The BTRC data showed that the number of mobile phone connections dropped by 5.4 lakh between November 2021 and January 2022.

The number of total active mobile phone connections dropped to 18.08 crore at the end of January 2022 from 18.13 crore at the end of October 2021.

Of the four telecom operators operating in the country, all but Grameenphone managed to strengthen their customer bases.

Robi, Banglalink and Teletalk gained 30,0000, 2.40 lakh and 2.9 lakh connections respectively between November 2021 and January 2022.

Leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone lost 11 lakh connections in the three months.

Despite the loss of customers, GP remained the leading market player.

GP’s subscriber base stood at 8.3 crore, Robi’s at 5.36 crore, Banglalink’s at 3.74 crore and state-owned Teletalk’s at 67.8 lakh.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/166003/bangladeshs-telcos-lose-734-lakh-internet-connections-in-3-months