SIM sales rise for first time in four months
Telecom operators added 10.68 lakh new mobile connections to their networks in April for the first time in four months after the government launched biometric re-registration of SIMs.
Bangladesh has recorded 13.2 crore active SIMs as of April, according to data from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
The industry also added 7.17 lakh new internet connections in April, BTRC said in a report, which will be published this week. The number of internet connections rose 1.19 percent to an all-time high of 6.2 crore in April from the previous month.
In April, Grameenphone, the largest carrier, signed up 6.65 lakh new connections, the highest number among six operators. It has 5.69 crore active subscribers now.
Banglalink, the second largest operator by subscribers, added 2.16 lakh new connections to its network in April to reach 3.22 crore.
Robi now has 2.76 crore active SIMs, as it also added 1.64 lakh new connections in April.
Airtel, the fourth largest operator, lost 58,000 active SIMs in April while Citycell continued to lose subscribers to end up with 7.68 lakh users.
State-owned operator Teletalk did not lose any customer due to biometric re-registration that started in December last year. In April, 43.65 lakh SIMs were active on its network.
As of May 15, only 9.47 crore SIMs have been re-registered and the total number is unlikely to cross 11 crore by the May 31 deadline, said a senior official of the telecom regulator.
“The number of active mobile connections will decrease after May 31, as all unregistered SIMs will be blocked on June 1.”
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