The number of internet users in the country rose in July thanks to an increase in mobile data consumption as operators expanded their network and improved the quality of 4G service.
There were about 1.4 million new data subscribers in the month compared to June, taking the total number of internet users to 127.6 million, data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) showed.
The gain in July stood at 3.8% year-on-year.
In March, the country's four mobile phone operators bought 190 megahertz of spectrum for $1.23 billion, or Tk10,645 crore.
Once the operators add the additional spectrum to their network, the suffering for the customers in the form of slower internet speed and subpar voice services would lessen to a large extent.
Operators say they are deploying thousands of 4G base transceiver stations central to better internet pace.
All of the new 1.4 million subscribers came in the mobile internet segment, raising the number of people who access the internet on their handheld devices to 116.4 million in July from 115 million a month earlier.
Mobile data users were up by about 2.5% in July compared to the same month a year earlier.
The number of broadband internet users remained unchanged at 111 million in July versus June but it was up 11 per cent from a year ago.
The number of broadband users has increased dramatically since the outbreak of Covid-19 as people had to rely heavily on the internet to communicate, work, and study.
In Bangladesh, broadband users more than doubled since February 2020.
Bandwidth consumption witnessed a remarkable spike during the coronavirus pandemic: 3,850 Gbps was used in June, up from 1,000 Gbps before the health crisis erupted, according to the BTRC.
Although the number of internet subscribers has sprinted to 127.5 million, representing two-thirds of the country's population, the number of unique internet users is much lower.
This is because there are many people who use the internet from multiple SIMs.
If a person uses two SIMs, s/he would be counted as two subscribers.
As per BTRC definition, internet subscriber means subscribers or subscriptions who have accessed the internet at least once in the preceding 90 days.
According to the new population census, 6.5 crore people, aged 18 or above, do not use the internet.
Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2022/09/08/bangladesh-ranks-195th-in-mean-download-speed