Although broadband and mobile internet is again available in the country, most software, IT service and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies are experiencing significant productivity losses due to insufficient internet speeds.

The IT firms said they are grappling with speeds far below their operational needs, even though they are willing to pay a premium for better service.

This shortfall is causing a significant decrease in productivity and an uptick in operational costs.

According to industry people, productivity has been lost by about 50 percent since the return of the internet. They said with an initial internet blackout for a few days and the current low speed internet, dissatisfaction among foreign clients is increasing as reliable internet speeds are critical for constant communication.

This instability threatens ongoing contracts and heightens the risk of losing future business as clients demand seamless and uninterrupted connectivity for efficient operations, they said.

"Clients are not happy with such internet speeds," said Zayed Uddin Ahmed, CEO of ASL BPO, which provides back office and live support to clients globally.

"They are constantly asking when everything will be back to normal in our country," he added.

He said his office staff are struggling to complete assigned tasks in due time, which was severely hampering productivity.

Russell T Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), said the IT firms are facing difficulty in sending and downloading files due to the low speed internet.

In the wake of student protests over reforming the quota system in public jobs and violence centring it, the government shut down mobile internet for over 10 days and broadband for 5 days in July.

The broadband internet service was restored on July 24 and mobile internet service on July 28. However, strict restrictions on social media and filtering mechanisms enforced by the government have led to a slowdown of the internet, according to people involved with the proceedings.

Fahim Mashroor, former president of the BASIS, said irrespective of their focus, be it export or local markets, the companies are being hit hard for the slow internet.

"In today's environment, cloud-based development is paramount, requiring robust bandwidth to function efficiently," he said.

"However, nearly all IT firms are grappling with speeds far below their operational needs, even when we are ready to pay a premium for better service," he added.

"We are afraid that export of software and IT services, which have already been under pressure over the last two years, may fall 20-30 percent this year because of this shutdown and slow bandwidth issue," he added.

"The internet speed is absolutely in no way close to what is required for doing any professional work and our development work and day to day activities are being greatly hampered," said Rashad Kabir, managing director of software company Dream71 Bangladesh.

"Nowadays, we cannot use WhatsApp, an important medium for communication, using mobile internet," he said.

"Even though we could use VPN (virtual private network) or broadband internet, file sharing is not possible and as a result, we are facing embarrassing situations with our foreign clients," Kabir added.

"Above all, there are more than 15 lakh people who use Facebook for their e-commerce business," he said.

The daily income of these people is now being seriously hampered because of the shutdown of Facebook and slow internet connection, added Kabir, also a former director of the BASIS.