The government’s decision to suspend access to Facebook is costing large and small players in the new economy crores of Taka.
The country’s six mobile operators are losing Tk1.5 crore each day, industry insiders said, adding that the Facebook shutdown had caused revenue earnings from data services to plummet 30%.
The six mobile operators earn around Tk150 crore from data services per month, roughly Tk4.5 to Tk5 crore daily, from data services, according to industry insiders.
The temporary ban on the social networking platform came shortly after the Supreme Court rejected review petitions by war criminals SQ Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid on November 18.
In Bangladesh, over 15 million people are active Facebook users and the number is rising.
“We have observed a significant drop in data revenue since the shutdown,” said Grameenphone in a statement.
Banglalink spokesperson Ankit Sureka said: “Facebook is one of the most popular internet sites around the world and it is used by lots of people of all ages in our country as well. Most of the users who use Facebook are mobile users. Therefore, due to the current block, being a telecommunications company, we are losing a significant amount of data revenue.”
Robi Axiata CEO Supun Weerasinghe told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday: “A key service for consumers, data consumption of Robi has been reduced almost 30%. If we compare it with our total revenue, the loss will be around 2 to 3%.”
“Security cannot be compromised considering public safety. To achieve anything you have to sacrifice a little,” Supun said.
ICT experts denounced the decision to block Facebook.
ICT expert Mostofa Jabber said blocking social networking sites was not a solution to curb criminality. “The government will have to combat criminals with modern equipment, not by blocking Facebook.”
“In cases of emergency, the government may suspend social networking sites. But this has continued day after day and is totally useless. Facebook is used as an educational, e-commerce and f-commerce platform,” Mostafa said, referring to the growing electronic commerce and Facebook commerce sectors.
Adding to across the board losses from the shutdown, broadband internet services were estimated to be losing Tk40 lakh a day, business sources said.
“If the social media shutdown continues, many broadband users will give up their subscriptions,” an official of the International Internet Gateway (IIG) services provider said, asking not to be named.
Facebook-based businesses are counting daily losses of Tk2 crore because of the block, another estimate said.
E-commerce sales have suffered a 25% decrease since Facebook was blocked.
E-commerce and f-commerce businesses take in over Tk200 crore per month. Thirty percent of e-commerce takes place via Facebook, according to a study.
