All broadband services in Bangladesh were restored on Monday following a complete shutdown ordered by the government on Sunday – the second in less than a month – as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country.
Telenor Asia, owner of Bangladesh telco Grameenphone, confirmed in a statement Monday that Grameenphone’s 3G and 4G service has been reinstated after “dialogue with the authorities”. Internet monitoring firm Netblocks also said Monday that all internet services were restored.
Bangladesh has been rocked by weeks of protests that began with anger at a new government jobs quota system that allegedly favored the ruling Awami League party led by Hasina, and peaked over the weekend with tens of thousands of people demanding Hasina’s resignation for her government’s violent crackdown on the protests in which over 200 people were reportedly killed. Close to another hundred people were reportedly killed in clashes on Sunday.
Making matters worse was the complete shutdown of the country’s internet services, which started on July 18 and lasted until July 28, with social media platforms remaining blocked until July 31. The government ordered another internet shutdown at 2pm local time Sunday as anti-Hasina protests gained momentum.
The internet shutdown not only prevented people from sharing news about the protests and violence (apart from voice and SMS, which was still available), but also impacted their livelihoods, to include reportedly losing access to mobile financial services.
Various media reports have said the telecoms and digital commerce sectors lost several million US dollars per day due to the mobile internet outage. Last week, State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak put the loss figure for the private and public telecoms ICT sector alone at BDT180 billion (US$1.5 billion). Bangladesh’s Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FICCI) estimated losses for the overall economy at over US$10 billion as of July 28.
Meanwhile, reports the Associated Press, Bangladesh’s military chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zamam, has temporarily taken control of the country. President Mohammed Shahabuddin said on Monday that Parliament will be dissolved and a national government formed as soon as possible, followed by new elections.
