The mobile internet subscriber base in Bangladesh witnessed a massive growth in April, increasing by 39 lakh, marking the biggest jump in recent years.

This is the second consecutive month that the number of mobile internet users saw a huge boost, with 36 lakh having been added to the subscriber base in March.

February also saw a moderate rise in the number.

The increase in April represents the largest jump in at least the past four years.

There were 12.51 crore mobile internet users in April, up from 12.12 crore in the preceding month, according to the latest data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The total number of internet users, including those of broadband, stood at 13.86 crore in April, up from 13.47 crore in March.

However, the figures for the broadband segment have not been updated since the BTRC only provides quarterly data of broadband internet users.

Although this marked the third consecutive month of growth for the overall internet user base in Bangladesh, the number declined for five straight months until January amid the regulator's bar on the sale of packages with short validity periods.

Persistent inflationary pressure also affected demand.

Despite the huge growth in the subscriber base in the past few months, officials of mobile network operators said there had not been a corresponding increase in revenue, indicating a disconnect between user base expansion and spending ability.

"People are not spending as much since they have tightened their belts. This could be due to high inflation," said Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer at Banglalink.

"And the recent hike in supplementary duty and VAT on SIMs will have further negative impacts on mobile internet usage," he added.

In its proposed budget for fiscal year 2024-25, the government imposed an additional 5 percent supplementary duty on mobile service usage. Additionally, VAT for SIM connections was hiked from Tk 200 to Tk 300.

"The internet consumer base has shifted to lower pricing tiers, leading to a continued decline in data revenue in recent months," said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi.

He added that most new internet users are secondary SIM subscribers exploring different operators for cheaper data services.

The 1.34 crore broadband subscribers now account for 9.7 percent of the country's total internet subscriber base. The rest avail mobile internet.