Mobile subscribers rise by 10 lakh in May

The number of mobile subscribers in Bangladesh grew by 10 lakh in May, driven primarily by net additions from the country's two largest operators, Grameenphone and Robi Axiata.

With the increase, total mobile subscriptions reached 18.76 crore at the end of May, according to data released by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The growth marks a modest rebound following several months of decline. Between July 2023 and March 2024, the industry shed nearly 1 crore subscribers, largely due to higher taxes on new SIMs.

The BTRC defines an active subscriber as a biometrically verified user who has made a call, used mobile data, or sent an SMS at least once in the previous 90 days.

Grameenphone, the largest telecom operator in the country, added 7 lakh subscribers in May, pushing its total to 8.61 crore.

The operator now commands 45.93 percent of the total mobile subscriber market.

Robi Axiata, the second-largest operator, gained 3 lakh new customers during the same period, bringing its total to nearly 5.70 crore.

Robi's market share now stands at 30.37 percent.

Meanwhile, Banglalink saw a decline of 1.2 lakh subscribers, bringing its total customer base to 3.78 crore.

The operator's current market share is 20.18 percent.

State-owned Teletalk, on the other hand, added 20,000 new subscribers in May, taking its total to 65.8 lakh.

Teletalk holds a 3.51 percent share of the market.

Industry executives attribute the earlier contraction in the subscriber base to the rise in supplementary duty on new SIM cards.

Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi, said the tax rose from Tk 200 to Tk 300.

"We are subsidising SIM sales again," he said.

"Due to the high taxation, it was difficult for smaller operators to offer subsidies, which negatively impacted our growth. As a result, while the top operator, which has far superior financial might, was gaining, our customer base was shrinking," he added.

Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer of Banglalink, said, "The increased SIM tax makes it very difficult for smaller mobile operators to subsidise SIMs as heavily as they did in the past."

However, the market has shown signs of a gradual rebound since April.