A day after blocking Viber and Tango, the government yesterday directed operators to block similar services WhatsApp, mypeople and LINE.
BTRC yesterday also extended the bar on Viber and Tango until January 21 midnight, an official said.
BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam confirmed this to the Dhaka Tribune without giving any details or making any further comment.
Political sources said the moves follow days of violence during the non-stop countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
They said top opposition leaders, in order to avoid being overheard, have been using these internet-based communication tools to maintain contact. These applications are free and popular communication platforms that can be used for sharing audio-visual materials as well without being tapped by intelligence mechanisms.
However, several users have told the Dhaka Tribune last evening that despite the bar, these applications can still be used on personal or local wi-fi networks.
Market sources informed that the government might have blocked all those services, but political leaders are still using other services such as the IMO and Bingo.
BTRC sources said that around 3pm yesterday, BTRC served an e-mail to all the telecom operators to restrict these apps and continue the ban until 11:59pm on January 21.
After receiving the e-mail, market leader Grameenphone put up a notice on their website for their subscribers saying: “Customers may experience disruptions on the aforementioned services in the next few days.”
The notice also said that due to limitations in technology, Grameenphone can only enforce partial restriction on the IP-based messaging services.
On Sunday, a BTRC spokesperson said they had made the decision following requests from law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The Dhaka Tribune has learned that a high profile intelligence agency has told the government that terrorists and militants have been using various modern services with the help of 3G to communicate among themselves.
The BTRC also asked the mobile operators to block 3G services for 11 hours on Sunday, sources said.