Mobile internet users now over 60m in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) released the July figures yesterday which showed the number of mobile internet subscribers is 60.03m. According to the BTRC website, the total number of the country’s internet subscribers reached 63.91m at the end of July, 2016. Data showed that a total of 60.03m people use internet services on their smartphones, rising from 59.65m in June. The number of fixed-line internet users was 3.77m in July while the number of WiMAX subscribers dropped to 100,000 from 110,000 a month earlier. The figures represent the number of active subscribers only, BTRC said. A subscriber using internet for the past 90 days is considered an active subscriber. Earlier data showed the number of internet users increased to 54.1m in December 2015 from 53.9m in the previous month. The increase of the number was attributed to the withdrawal of Facebook block in November. But the World Bank ran counter to the statistics of the regulatory body as they were released in January this year. The global money lender put the number of internet users in the country at 12m only. The government, however, dismissed the “World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends.” On November 18 last year, BTRC blocked Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, mypeople, Line and Tango across the country on security grounds. After suspension of popular social media site Facebook, the number of internet users dropped 717,000 to 53.9m from 54.6m in October. On the other hand, the number of mobile phone subscribers increased 557,000 to 133.7m in December, 2015 from 133.1m in November. According to the BTRC statistics, the total number of mobile internet users dropped 863,000 in November from 52.3m in October. It also affected e-commerce and Facebook-based trading due to closure of the popular social network site. Facebook was later unblocked on December 10. In December, the number of mobile internet users was 51.4m while WiMAX users is 148,000 and internet users via ISP and PSTN was 2.5m. In November, the number of mobile internet users was 5.14 crore while WiMAX users 1.54 lakh and internet users via ISP and PSTN was 23 lakh. In October, the number of mobile internet users was 5.23 crore while WiMAX users 1.59 lakh and internet users via ISP and PSTN was 21 lakh. On December 13, BTRC blocked the social networking sites – Twitter, Skype, Imo three days after unblocking the Facebook.