Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of mobile operator Robi Axiata, told Prothom Alo that rising costs have made consumers less inclined to acquire new connections. This has made efforts to keep the marginalised population connected even more challenging. Additionally, the increased cost of usage has resulted in reluctance among many to obtain alternative connections even when necessary.
Current figures of subscribers

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) released the latest statistics on mobile phone and internet subscribers on 6 March. The data reveals that in June of the previous year, the number of mobile phone subscribers peaked at 196 million (19 crore 60 lakh). However, this figure has since declined, reaching approximately 186.6 million (18 crore 66 lakhs) in January.

The most significant decline has been observed in mobile internet subscribers. In June, the number of internet users stood at approximately 129.2 million (12 crore 92 lakhs). This number has steadily decreased each month since then. According to BTRC data by January, the number of mobile internet users had fallen to 116 million (11 crore 60 lakhs).
The total number of internet subscribers in the country, including both mobile phone and broadband users, now stands at approximately 130 million (13 crore), compared to around 142.2 million (14 crore 22 lakhs) in June. During this period, broadband internet subscribers slightly increased, reaching approximately 14. million (1 crore 40 lakhs). Operators report that people are increasingly accessing the internet via Wi-Fi wherever available, reducing their reliance on purchasing mobile data packages. It is important to note that an individual is considered a subscriber if they have used the service at least once in the past 90 days.