Number of mobile internet users crosses 7 crore

The number of active mobile internet connections in Bangladesh surpassed seven crore in July, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) stated in a report published yesterday.

The number of internet connections through mobile operators was 7.02 crore at the end of July and 7.19 crore at the end of August, said the telecom regulator.

The six crore mark was crossed in July last year, five crore in August 2015 and four crore in September 2014.

According to the report, the number of active internet connections at the end of August was 7.71 crore, 93.18 percent of them in cellphones.

BTRC did not mention anything about 3G connections and specify the numbers for each operator.

However, a top official informed that Grameenphone is clearly ahead with 2.95 crore connections and Robi coming second with 2.42 crore, followed by Banglalink with 1.67 crore and Teletalk with 16 lakh.

Of the total connections, the number of fixed internet connections stood at 51.70 lakh and WiMAX 89,000, which is continuously declining, says the report.

Mobile operators also achieved massive success in attaining new connections, adding about 19.57 lakh and ending August with 13.93 crore active SIMs, 6.31 crore being of Grameenphone.

Merged operator Robi crossed a new milestone in August with 4.07 crore connections while Banglalink has 3.23 crore and Teletalk 32.34 lakh active connections.