12 lakh mobile, internet users vanish in April

The second phase of the nationwide lockdown enforced from April 5 has taken a heavy toll on the mobile and internet subscriber base of the country's telecommunication operators.

In April alone, the sector lost 12 lakh mobile and internet users.

At the end of April, the number of total active mobile subscribers dropped to 17.41 crore, which is 17.46 crore in March.

The number of internet users also saw a big fall during the time. The number dropped to 11.54 crore in April, from 11.61 crore in the previous month.

Dropouts of the internet subscribers happened from mobile-based users while the number of broadband and fixed internet users remain unchanged.

Among the four mobile operators in the country, the second-largest mobile operator – Robi Axiata Ltd – lost the highest 2.9 lakh mobile users in April while state-owned Teletalk registered 60,000 new users.

In a statement, Robi Axiata Ltd said, "It is very obvious that the second wave of coronavirus pandemic has had an adverse impact on our business in April. As a result, both our subscriber base and revenue have been impacted."

Grameenphone, the largest mobile operator, sustained the second highest – 2.4 lakh subscribers – loss during the time.

The third-largest operator, Banglalink, saw a drop of only 0.6 lakh users in April.

No other operators including Grameenphone did not respond to requests for their comments.