The number of internet users in the country registered moderate growth in March as people started to rely on various online platforms once again amid a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to industry insiders, more people have resumed working from home due to the resurgence of Covid-19 infections.

The number of internet users stood at 11.61 crore in March, up 3 per cent from a month ago and 12.48 per cent year-on-year, data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) showed.

An official of a mobile phone operator said that many people began preparing for distance working since March when the Covid-19 infection rate started to rise.

The number of mobile phone users also rose to a nine-month high in the same month.

Mobile phone users stood at 17.46 crore in March, up 0.73 per cent from a month ago and 5.62 per cent year-on-year.

The number of mobile subscribers had started to decline in April last year after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to keep the coronavirus at bay. The downward trend continued until June last year. Since then, the number of users started to rise steadily.

"We saw a strong growth in 4G handset or smartphone use in March because of the increased demand for internet," said Md Hasan, head of external communications at Grameenphone.

The leading mobile phone operator has achieved a milestone by upgrading all of its 15,590 towers to 4G in March, which helped boost its customer experience.

"Besides, we removed the distinction between 3G and 4G data offers," he added.

In March, GP had 8.08 crore subscribers, up 7.3 per cent from a year ago. Robi had 5.19 crore users, an increase of 4.43 per cent year-on-year.

Banglalink had 3.63 crore users compared to 3.54 crore in the same month last year. Teletalk added 7.77 lakh new customers to take the tally to 56.9 lakh at the end of March.