The interim government has offered extensive concessions to mobile operators over the past year to make data more affordable, yet most have sharply increased the prices of smaller data packs, making internet access harder for nearly three-quarters of mobile users who rely on low-volume plans.
A TIMES review shows that the heaviest burden has fallen on students, low-income users and those dependent on short-validity packs.
The pattern of price increases, however, varies across operators.
Grameenphone has more than doubled the price of its 4GB-for-7-days pack to Tk148 from Tk65 within a year. Its minimum pack — 4GB for 3 days — now costs Tk98, whereas many users previously depended on packs priced as low as Tk17.
Robi Axiata has taken a split approach, reducing prices under its youth-focused brand Airtel. State-run Teletalk, known for its affordability and low subscription base, also cut data prices. Its General Manager for Sales and Marketing Ahammed Ullah said this reflected the company’s responsibility as a government-run operator.
Robi’s primary brand, however, kept most of its data-pack prices largely unchanged. It also raised its minimum pack price to Tk98, withdrawing its smallest packages. This has effectively placed most users in the same bracket as Grameenphone and forced low-income customers to spend more for essential data.
Banglalink, the country’s third-largest operator, increased prices across all data packs over the same period. Its 2GB-for-7-days pack now costs Tk149, up from Tk50, while the price of its 35GB-for-30-days pack rose to Tk598 from Tk435.
The company attributed these increases to rising operational expenses and said its packages now include additional services such as Toffee Premium subscriptions “to meet changing consumer demand”. Banglalink also claimed that its 4G data business remains loss-making.
All three operators have blamed high spectrum fees as well as rising energy and transmission costs.
“Any assessment of telecom pricing should consider the full economic and operational context. Determining whether prices are ‘high’ cannot be based on the average price of a few selected products alone,” said Robi Axiata’s Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer, Shahed Alam.
Consumer groups remain unconvinced. They argue that increases in small-pack prices — the very backbone of the market — reveal a strategy that targets the weakest segment of society.
“Companies are clever. They identified the biggest market in the small-pack segment and set cut-throat prices there,” said Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association President Mohiuddin Ahmed.
Grameenphone, in response, said it is trying to “steer” the country toward a more data-centric future.
“Our objective is to shift our users from low-spend, usage-limited patterns towards higher-value, data-centric digital adoption to accelerate the digitalisation of the economy,” the operator said.
Grameenphone did reduce the price of its 100GB-for-30-days pack to Tk798 from Tk1,499, and its 60GB monthly pack to Tk698 from Tk999. But Mohiuddin questioned the relevance of such offers, saying: “How many users buy those?”
The sector’s pricing power strengthened after the July uprising. The interim government allowed operators to bypass their long-standing disputes with Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) providers by giving them access to dark fibre and permitting the deployment of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) equipment — steps that cut transmission costs and improved efficiency.
At the same time, the government negotiated lower wholesale bandwidth prices earlier this year and urged mobile operators to pass on the benefit through better data quality and affordability.
Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant for Posts, Telecommunications and ICT, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, expressed frustration to TIMES.
“We are receiving complaints about mobile data price hikes. But we cannot dictate a price cut under the current regulatory regime,” he said.
He added that the ministry is exploring potential solutions and remains in discussions with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Operators must notify the BTRC of their data-pack tariffs. Grameenphone, as a Significant Market Power operator, requires explicit approval. Mohiuddin questioned the regulator’s role, asking: “How is the regulator allowing such regressive pricing of small packs when operators cannot introduce any package without informing the Commission?”
“When the government tried to impose further taxes on mobile usage, the operators increased pack prices. We protested and the government backed down,” he said. “But data prices never fell — they only kept rising.”
BTRC Chairman Major General Emdad-ul-Bari echoed Taiyeb, noting that the regulator does not set mobile data prices and relies on market competition to keep rates reasonable. He said this mechanism had worked for 15 years as data prices dropped sharply but acknowledged that the Commission still enforces floor and ceiling rates for SMS and voice calls — but not for data.
Mohiuddin suggested this might be due to “operator influence”, as data now accounts for an increasing share of industry revenue. He also noted that broadband tariffs face strict price controls — a key complaint among internet service providers (ISPs) — whereas mobile operators enjoy far more flexibility.
A “discrimination” exists between large and small players in the telecom value chain, ISP Association of Bangladesh President Aminul Hakim told TIMES. The regulator sets a floor price for ISP bandwidth procurement but not for mobile operators.
“The same discrimination applies to selling prices,” he said. “ISPs received no major reduction in wholesale bandwidth this year, yet the BTRC is calling for another broadband price cut — while mobile data remains unregulated.”
According to the regulator, there were 119.7 million mobile internet subscribers at the end of September, compared with only 14.5 million ISP connections nationwide.
Bari, referring to the broader policy reforms under way, said mobile data prices “should eventually decrease” and that the Commission is working towards that objective, though he did not offer a definitive explanation for the current pricing trend.
