Dot Bangla and Dot BD Break Barriers: Domains Finally Opened for Wider Access

The long-stalled national identity domains of Bangladesh—‘Dot Bangla’ (.bangla) and ‘Dot BD’ (.bd)—have finally been declared open, after being held back for what has been described as “a ridiculous reason of not allowing foreign travel.” The announcement was made by Fayez Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant on Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology to the Chief Adviser.

According to his declaration, the registry rights of Dot Bangla and Dot BD domains will remain under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL), while resellers will be appointed for broader accessibility. To facilitate this, an API is being developed.

Taiyeb further stated that “DotGov” will be opened to government and autonomous institutions after verification, while “DotEdu.bd” could also be made accessible to recognized educational institutions following verification. Additionally, “DotCom.bd” resellers will be enabled, and discussions are underway with BTRC and BTCL to finalize decisions on “DotOrg.bd” and other extended domain names under Dot BD and Dot Bangla.

In a Facebook post late Saturday night, September 27, Taiyeb expressed disappointment at the lack of progress, writing that while “by this time millions of Dot Bangla and Dot BD domains should have been hosted, only about 45,000 sites are hosted, of which 37,000 belong to government institutions under DotGov, Dot Bangla, and Dot BD.” He criticized the previous Awami League management for the failure, remarking that “for the laughable excuse of not allowing foreign travel, the work was left stuck. As a result, domain name hosting has been draining foreign currency, which must be stopped, at least partially.”