Bangladesh lost about 27 lakh internet subscriptions in October, driven by a fall in mobile users following restrictions on SIM ownership per individual.
According to the latest figures from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), total internet subscriptions fell to 13.15 crore in October from 13.42 crore in the previous month.
The contraction was driven entirely by mobile internet connections, which declined by some 31 lakh to 11.68 crore in October from September.
This slump follows eight consecutive months of growth since February 2025, during which subscriber numbers rose by 41 lakh, after a prior decline of over 1.20 crore customers from June 2024 to January 2025.
Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer at Robi Axiata, said, "Due to limiting SIM ownership, the subscriber number will decrease more drastically. The government will also lose revenue."
An industry official added that if the SIM limit is further reduced, the existence of smaller operators could be threatened due to restrictions on SIM ownership.
Earlier in April 2025, the BTRC lowered the SIM ceiling from 15 to 10 per national ID (NID), a measure that has already come into effect.
As a result, approximately 67 lakh SIM cards registered under 26 lakh users exceeding the new limit were considered disabled.
According to the latest BTRC decision, from January next year, one person will be allowed to register and use a maximum of five personal SIM cards under a single NID.
As of March 2025, the country had over 18.62 crore active SIM cards, while the number of unique registered users stood at 6.75 crore, indicating multiple SIMs are often registered under names other than actual users.
BTRC data shows that 80.32 percent of users hold five or fewer SIMs, 16.23 percent hold 6–10, and only 3.45 percent have 11–15 SIM cards.
Meanwhile, fixed broadband subscriptions held steady, rising slightly by 2 lakh month-on-month in October to 1.46 crore, indicating that home and business internet demand remains resilient despite turbulence in mobile subscriber trends.
