The telecom industry added over nine million new mobile subscriptions and beyond six million internet subscriptions in the first half of this year.
Bangladesh’s telecom authority revealed the statistics today, shining light on the progress after last year’s drive against unregistered subscriptions that saw a mass decline.
The specific number of new mobile subscriptions was 95.91 lakh and internet 67.24 lakh, said the report of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Currently, the number of internet connection stands at 73.4 million.
Market insiders say they found tremendous growth in the industry after completing the re-registration process of mobile subscription.
Newly merged Robi and Airtel added the highest number of customers - 57.39 lakh, converting their existing subscriber base to 3.96 crore during the first six months.
Banglalink, is now the third largest operator with 3.15 crore subscriber base. It added 56.64 lakh new customers in the first half of this year.
Market leader Grameenpone added 36.25 lakh subscribers, widening their service coverage to 6.16 crore, BTRC’s report published read.
All the private mobile operators got positive feedback from the market in first half, except state-run Teletalk, who lost 3.73 lakh subscribers and were left with a 33.6 lakh customer base.
In the internet segment, mobile operators dominate with 6.87 crore active internet connections. ISP connected internet subscriptions registered to 46.22 lakh and Wi-Max only with 75,000.