Less than a week after taking the oath of office, the new government finds itself presiding over a digital landscape that looks less like a finished project and more like a vast construction site. The immediate-past interim administration spent its limited tenure uncovering irregularities, reviewing controversial projects and enacting urgent reforms aimed at stabilising a sector long dogged by alleged mismanagement. What the new cabinet now inherits is the far more demanding responsibility of converting emergency corrective measures into a coherent, growth-oriented
digital strategy.
The timing is critical. As Bangladesh approaches its graduation from least- developed country (LDC) status, the telecom and ICT sectors -- once celebrated pillars of the 'Smart Bangladesh' vision -- are under intense scrutiny at home and abroad.
The most consequential document left behind by the interim administration is the 3,272-page White Paper examining fifteen years of ICT governance, among other sorts of scrutiny. Rather than merely cataloguing irregularities, it attempts a systemic diagnosis of what it described as entrenched patronage networks and inefficient project execution. It estimates that approximately Tk 290 billion (around $2.4 billion) was channelled into ICT initiatives that produced limited tangible outcomes, including underutilised Hi-Tech parks and training programmes that failed to meet expectations.
For the new government, the White Paper presents both a roadmap and a political test.
First, there is the delicate balance between accountability and continuity. Pursuing legal action against individuals and entities named in the report must be handled in a way that does not paralyse essential infrastructure providers such as the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) or the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, whose operations underpin national connectivity.
Second, there is the question of restoring investor confidence. The report's references to inflated spectrum pricing and irregularities surrounding 5G procurement have reinforced perceptions of policy unpredictability. The new administration must now demonstrate, through transparent processes and stable regulation, that the operating environment has fundamentally improved.
Governing under a rewritten regulatory framework: The interim administration did not confine itself to investigation. It also enacted key legislative changes, including the Bangladesh Telecommunications (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 and the Cyber
Security Ordinance 2024. These measures sought to address longstanding concerns about centralised control, regulatory overlap and discretionary decision-making.
One of the most notable shifts has been the formal recognition of uninterrupted internet access as a protected right, limiting the executive's ability to impose blanket shutdowns, as happened in the near past. The new government, therefore, becomes first to operate within a framework that significantly narrows the state's authority to suspend connectivity even during periods of unrest.
This shift carries both symbolic and operational implications. Safeguarding uninterrupted access requires investment in redundancy, network resilience and cybersecurity capacity -- no small task amid foreign-exchange pressures that complicate the import of telecoms equipment.
Equally significant is the recalibration of institutional authority. The reforms strengthened the autonomy of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), returning licensing and oversight powers more firmly to the regulator.
The new cabinet will need to uphold this autonomy if it wishes to maintain the credibility gains
made in the eyes of development partners and international observers.
Confronting fragmentation, 'ghost' infrastructure: The White Paper also describes a fragmented market structure shaped by an accumulation of small-scale licences issued over many years. This proliferation created layers of intermediaries that, in practice, raised costs and reduced efficiency, particularly
in rural areas.
The proposed unified licensing framework -- consolidating numerous categories into a smaller, streamlined structure -- is intended to simplify market entry and encourage fair competition.
Yet implementation will inevitably encounter resistance from stakeholders who benefited
from the previous system.
Another pressing dilemma concerns the future of
Hi-Tech parks. Hundreds of millions of dollars remain tied up in projects that have struggled to attract sustained private-sector engagement. The new government must now determine whether to repurpose these facilities -- perhaps as vocational and innovation hubs aligned with industry
demand -- or to reassess their scope and scale to prevent further resource leakage.
Between 5G ambitions and satellite frontier: While domestic reforms were under way, global technology trends continued apace. The interim government opened the market to satellite-based internet services, enabling providers such as Starlink to begin operations in late 2025. This move has introduced new competitive dynamics into a market already navigating structural reform.
The new administration must carefully balance the interests of established operators such as Grameenphone and Robi, which have faced regulatory uncertainty in recent years, with the broader objective of expanding connectivity to underserved regions. Satellite services may help bridge
geographic gaps, but they also raise questions about pricing, spectrum coordination and long-term infrastructure investment.
The 5G rollout, meanwhile, requires a reset grounded in technological neutrality, cost realism and
demand-driven deployment. Avoiding inflated procurement and focusing on commercially viable use cases will be essential if 5G is to move beyond symbolic launches toward meaningful industrial and consumer applications.
A narrow window for strategic signalling: The new government's initial months will be decisive. It must reassure citizens that the cybersecurity framework will protect users without constraining legitimate expression. It must also ensure that Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) systems -- from identity to payments -- are interoperable, secure and inclusive, rather than siloed or duplicative.
The interim administration has provided an extensive diagnostic review and introduced reforms aimed at transparency and institutional balance. The responsibility now shifts to the elected government to translate that foundation into sustained growth, investor confidence and equitable digital access.
In the coming hundred days, the central question will not merely be whether the damage of the past can be addressed, but whether Bangladesh can emerge with a digital ecosystem that is resilient, competitive and genuinely fit for its next phase of development.
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