Compared to other countries in the subcontinent, the price of mobile internet in Bangladesh is nearly double, although the bandwidth price is almost the same.
The country’s mobile phone users still enjoy the lowest call rates compared to others around the world but when it comes to internet, the price cannot be afforded by all as the per capita income in Bangladesh is $923 [Tk71,763 approximately] which is less than India’s $3,500, Sri Lanka’s $2,835 and Pakistan’s $1,368.
According to industry sources, there is no definite reason for internet to be expensive and have such high rates. But the operators claimed, as the number of internet users is not enough, they cannot slash the price immediately. They said, however, the price will be more competitive from next month.
Some interesting information was identified regarding the mobile internet rates of different units of the same companies around the subcontinent who are also operating in the country.
Mobile operators in the country charge around Tk275 to Tk345 for 1 Gigabyte (GB) per month for an internet package. Grameenphone, one of the country's leading operator, charge its users Tk300 for a 1GB package while its main rival, Banglalink, charges Tk275 for the same volume of data.
On the other hand, Mobilink, Pakistan’s leading mobile operator, charge Rs150 for 1GB which is approximately Tk120 and Telenor Pakistan charge Rs500 for 2GB which is around Tk394. Telenor Pakistan and Grameenphone belong to the same group – Telenor – whereas Mobilink and Banglalink belong to Orascom Telecom.
Airtel India charges Rs125, around Tk165, for 1 GB of internet but in Bangladesh, they charge Tk300 according to their website. In Sri Lanka, Airtel charges Rs299 for 1.2GB which is around Tk180 in Bangladesh.
Similar issues were seen in the case of Robi, an Axiata company, where they charge Tk275 for 900 Megabytes (MB) but same package on Dialog, another Axiata company in Sri Lanka, charges only Rs159 around Tk96 for 900MB.
It was also observed that such differences in prices also existed in other packages that provide a higher or lower volume of data.
Regarding the high price, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, chief financial officer of Robi, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The use of internet uses is not at a satisfactory level in our country, so sometimes it is tough to reduce the price. But we are working on it and will reduce the price significantly from next month to increase the user base.”
In the country, mobile internet prices have remained same for the last couple of years despite several reductions in bandwidth price. In 2007, the price of bandwidth was at Tk72,000 per Mbps which currently stands at Tk4,800 or less depending on terms and conditions.
According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), out of the 33 million internet users in the country, 31.33 million [over 95%] use the internet through mobile phones.
TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), said: “The mobile operators are trying to increase the penetration of internet and its uses significantly, and that is why initiatives to slash the price will be taken within a short time.”
On the issue, Sumon Ahmed Sabir, vice-president of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) said the internet prices should at least be comparable to the neighbouring countries where the price of bandwidth is similar.
However, Robi’s CFO Mahtab Uddin, said: “Many factors have to be taken into account before calculating internet price. The bandwidth price is only a small portion of the total cost it takes to provide the service.”
Recently, BTRC witnessed protests of some ICT based organisations who demanded reduction of internet price to a minimum level.
The regulator has asked the internet service providers to submit their “cost module” of internet package by
July 15 after which the commission will fix a limit for internet price similar to mobile call rates, according to BTRC source.
