Millions of SIMs Suspended as Subscriber Numbers Slide

Following the reversal of a previously announced decision to cancel SIM cards exceeding the limit of 10 per national ID, around 8.9 million SIMs have been brought under scrutiny. Of these, more than 8.8 million SIM cards have already been deactivated, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Updated data from the regulator show that over the past six months, the country has lost more than 1.8 million mobile subscribers and 6.26 million mobile internet users.

As of the end of November, Bangladesh had a total of 187.006 million mobile subscribers. During the same period, the total number of internet users stood at 129.89 million, of which 115.27 million were mobile internet users.

Against this backdrop, with the start of the new year, SIM cards exceeding the limit of 10 registrations under a single national ID have begun to be deactivated. As a result, nearly 8.9 million excess SIMs were identified, said Brigadier General SM Moniruzzaman, Director General of the Systems and Services Division of the BTRC. He added that more than 8.8 million of these SIM cards have already been shut down. The remaining around 100,000 SIMs have been temporarily suspended due to VIP usage or ongoing legal cases, though these too are expected to be deactivated soon.

Meanwhile, although the number of mobile internet users has declined, broadband internet subscriptions have increased. Currently, the country has approximately 14.62 million broadband internet connections. During the July uprising, this figure stood at 13.53 million. Since then, broadband connections have been rising at roughly two-month intervals, alongside noticeable improvements in broadband speed.

DBTech/BB/EK/OR