Viber, four other apps unblocked

The telecom operators have unblocked five popular online voice and messaging services days after they were shut down temporarily on security grounds.

The services are Viber, WhatsApp, Tango, Mypeople and Line.

Intelligence agencies asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to block the services of these applications temporarily until the midnight of January 21.

The applications have been unblocked since the order was not renewed, said a senior official of the regulator yesterday.

Zahir Ahmed, managing director of BDLink, an international terrestrial cable and internet gateway, said that they had unblocked the applications as there was no further instructions to discontinue the services.

Officials of the mobile operators also said they had unblocked the applications from January 21 midnight.

On January 18, BTRC sent a directive to all carriers to discontinue the services of Viber and Tango after law enforcement and intelligence agencies asked the regulator to take the step.

Viber and Tango were blocked the same day while the services of WhatsApp, Mypeople and Line were shut down the following day.

The government has specific information that subversive activities, including bomb and arson attacks, were being carried out under directives issued by the BNP high-command using Viber and Tango, claimed a police official.

Intelligence agencies have recommended that the government block the popular services temporarily based on proof, the official added.

“We have information that those who had been issuing directives through mobile phones to carry out subversive activities had stopped using their phones and were using Viber and Tango instead,” the policeman said, adding, “We have had proofs of such instructions for carrying out subversive activities.”

State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal earlier said Viber and Tango had been blocked based on an intelligence report.

"Now criminals and militants interact using these [Viber and Tango] that cannot be monitored widely by our intelligence agencies," he said.

The intelligence agencies can locate any caller when a regular call is made from a mobile phone but they cannot get the location when the caller is using Viber or Tango, claimed an official of the telecom regulator.