Page 116 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

by a star, and in a very short journey the TRA managed to get 4 and move forward with a remote site visit, and still deliver 4 stars
stars, which is a pretty amazing achievement.” He further added is a phenomenal achievement”. Founded in 1989, EFQM is the
that “I have to say how important this is. In 31 years we have world’s foremost leader in management frameworks, fusing data-
assessed more than 50,000 organizations and TRA is the first to driven insights, curated learning and development and networking
have a remote site visit. They are world leaders in that sense and opportunities for the benefit of organizations worldwide.
I have to congratulate them for their agility, and their response to (September 1, 2020) tra.org.bh/en
this massive challenge we are facing. To accept that challenge

Bangladesh

The total number of Bangladesh's mobile phone subscribers hit there were 93.681 million mobile internet users and 5.742 million
over 166 million at the end of August, with the addition of nearly broadband internet users until December 2019 and the rest
half a million new users in the first 8 months of the year, statistics were WiMAX users. The number of internet users was 91.421
of the country's telecom regulator showed recently. According million at the end of January 2019, the BTRC data revealed. The
to data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory telecom regulator data further unveiled that the country's internet
Commission (BTRC), the number of subscribers in the country subscribers reached 80.483 million until December 2017. There
reached 166.028 million in August 2020. Bangladesh currently were 80.483 million internet users at the end of December 2017
has four mobile companies, three of which are foreign-backed while the figure stood at 66.623 million as of December 2016.
cellphone operators. The number of subscribers of mobile The BTRC has calculated the ISP subscriber information through
operators, Grameenphone, Robi Axiata, Banglalink and Teletalk intense market analysis, consultation and data.
stood at 77.011 million, 49.784 million, 34.578 million and 4.655 (September 18, 2020) thefinancialexpress.com.bd
million respectively at the end of August, the BTRC data showed.
According to statistics of the country's telecom regulator, the The number of subscribers of the country’s three private mobile
number of Bangladesh's mobile phone subscribers stood at phone operators — Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink —
165.572 million at the end of December 2019. BTRC's Senior increased by 30.63 lakh in July this year while state-owned
Assistant Director Md. Zakir Hossain Khan told Xinhua earlier Teletalk lost 75,000 subscribers in the month. So, the total number
that the operators reported loss of millions of subscriptions in of mobile phone subscribers in the country rose by 29.87 lakh to
March to May as the virus spread widely during that period in the 16.43 crore at the end of July this year from 16.13 crore a month
country. He attributed the decline in subscriber numbers in those ago. Officials of the telecom operators said that the improvement
past months to people with multiple phone numbers canceling was a reflection of the gradual restoration of normalcy in public
some service during the outbreak. Mobile phone subscribers in movement even though the coronavirus outbreak was yet to be
Bangladesh declined to nearly 161.506 million by the end of May brought under control. As per the Bangladesh Telecommunication
-- down over 4.5 million from February, the BTRC data showed. Regulatory Commission data released, the total subscribers of
(October 10, 2020) xinhuanet.com leading mobile phone Grameenphone increased by 15.53 lakh to
7.61 crore at the end of July from 7.45 crore in the previous month.
The total number of internet subscribers in Bangladesh nearly The number of subscribers of Robi increased by 11.23 lakh and
doubled in the last five years thanks to the government’s that of Banglalink by 3.87 lakh in July this year. With the increase
commitment and push to digitize the country. Bangladesh in July, Robi’s subscriber base increased to 4.91 crore at the end
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission's (BTRC) statistics of July from 4.8 crore a month earlier. The number of customers of
revealed that the number of internet subscribers in the country Banglalink increased to 3.44 crore from 3.4 crore, the BTRC data
stood at 106.410 million as of July 2020 whereas the number showed. However, Teletalk’s customer base dropped to 46.81
was 54.120 million at the end of December 2015. Of the total lakh from 47.57 lakh. The growth in July came after witnessing
subscribers, according to the telecom regulator data, there were three disappointing months amid the coronavirus outbreak. The
97.840 million mobile internet users and 8.571 million broadband number of mobile phone subscribers dropped by 40 lakh to 16.12
internet users in the country until July 2020. On the other hand, crore at the end of June this year from 16.53 crore at the end of
upto December 2015, the number of mobile internet users in March. Along with the improved number of subscriber base, the
the country stood at 51.453 million while 2.667 million internet number of active mobile internet subscribers in the country also
users were using broadband during the period. The term 'internet increased in July. The number of mobile internet subscribers
subscriber' means subscribers/subscriptions who have accessed increased by 29.35 lakh to 9.78 crore at the end of July from 9.49
the internet at least once in the preceding 90 days. Prior to this, crore a month ago. The BTRC data also showed that the number
total internet subscribers in the country were 99.428 million until of broadband internet subscribers remained unchanged at 85.71
December 2019, according to the BTRC data. Of the subscribers, lakh as of July this year. (September 14, 2020) newagebd.net

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