In commemoration of the July popular uprising, the government will offer 1GB of free internet to users on July 18, announced Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, Advisor to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.
The announcement came via his verified Facebook page on Wednesday (July 9) at around 9:00 PM.
The new initiative replaces the earlier plan for a symbolic “one-minute internet shutdown,” which was proposed to mark the same date on which the previous government had imposed a full internet blackout last year.
Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan wrote on Facebook, “As part of the government's initiative to mark the July mass uprising, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has been instructed to provide users with 1GB of free internet on July 18.”
Following the post, many followers took to the comment section to inquire about the validity period of the free data and whether unused data would disappear after expiration.
One user asked, “What’s the validity? Before activating, we must ensure that if the internet expires, our remaining data doesn’t vanish.”
Another user demanded, “We want validity-free internet for what we pay for.” Echoing that sentiment, another wrote, “What good is 1GB? We’d be happy with one month of unlimited data.”
While readers and followers debated and responded among themselves, there had been no official reply at the time of reporting from either the advisor or Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology.
