All four telecom operators in the country lost subscribers in July, according to data published by the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory commission.
In July, the total number of active mobile subscribers in Bangladesh stood at 19.42 crore, dropping by 18 lakh, compared with that of 19.60 crore in the previous month, as per the BTRC data.
The BTRC counts the total number of mobile users by adding new SIM purchases and subtracting SIMs that have been inactive for over 18 months.
However, the number of total mobile users in July was 68 lakh higher than that in the same period of the previous year.
The number of total mobile users was gradually rising for five consecutive months before July, according to the BTRC data.
In Bangladesh, the number of mobile subscribers is higher than the population, but the actual number of individual users is much lower. This is due to a rule which allows each person to own up to 15 SIM cards, which inflates the subscriber count.
Also, Bangladesh has a 20 per cent gender gap in terms of mobile ownership, according to a global report published by the GSM Association, commonly known GSMA or Global System for Mobile Communications.
According to Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2023, a total of 59.9 per cent of the population owned mobile phones.
According to the statistics, 69.3 per cent of the country鈥檚 male population owned mobile phones, but the percentage of mobile phone ownership among females was much lower, which stood at 50.9 per cent.
In urban areas, mobile phone ownership among males and females was 72.7 and 62.1 per cent respectively, while in rural areas it was 68.2 per cent and 47.4 per cent, it showed.
Of the four telecom operators, Banglalink lost the most number of customers. It lost about 9 lakh users, bringing the number of total Banglalink SIM users down to 4.35 crore in July, compared with that of 4.44 crore in the previous month, the BTRC data revealed.
Robi Axiata lost about 6 lakh active mobile connections, lowering its total subscriber number to 5.89 crore, compared with that of 5.85 crore in June.
Grameenphone, the largest telecom operator in Bangladesh, recorded a decrease as well in terms of mobile subscribers. According to the BTRC data, it lost about 3 lakh customers in July, letting its total number of subscribers lower down to 8.52 crore, compared with that of 8.55 crore in the previous month.
State-owned telecom operator Teletalk also experienced a slight loss in its active connections as its mobile subscribers decreased by about 10,000 in July.
