Sept sees record number of mobile phone and internet users

The numbers of both mobile phone and internet subscribers in the country have reached the highest-ever mark in September this year, according to the latest official data.

Mobile phone operators think that the rise in numbers reflects an economy recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing adoption of digital technology.

Some three million new internet users were added to the subscriber base in September, taking the total tally to 111.13 million, according to the data released by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (BTRC) on Monday.

The same month saw more than one million new mobile phone subscribers, which surpassed the pre-Covid-19 level in February.

The number of mobile phone subscribers reached 167.10 million in September, up from 166.08 million in August and 166.11 million in February.

Of the internet subscribers, some 102.47 million are mobile internet users and 8.65 million are broadband internet users, the data showed.

Grameenphone, the largest mobile phone operator in the country, had 77.59 million subscribers as of September, up from 77 million in the previous month.

Second-placed Robi Axiata had 50.12 million subscribers in September, up from 49.78 million in August.

Banglalink and state-run Teletalk have yet to fully recover from the pandemic's detrimental effects.

Shahed Alam, Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer, Robi Axiata Ltd., said Robi has been experiencing a massive uptick in the use of mobile internet during these time of pandemic.

Many new internet users have been added in recent time, while the existing users are using mobile internet more than they usually do, he added.

"On the whole, it's very clear that the internet usage pattern is changing and the number of internet users is swelling up," he said.

Head of Communications at Grameenphone Khairul Bashar said the rapid growth of internet sub-base is mostly a testimonial of fast digital and connectivity-based service adaptation because of the Covid-19 and the overall behavioural shift.

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