Mobile internet restored in violence-hit B’desh

Dhaka: The mobile internet connection was restored in Bangladesh on Sunday, 10 days after it was restricted by the authorities across the country to stop the spread of fake news on social media amidst the deadly nationwide violence over reforms in the quota system in government jobs.

Addressing a press conference here, Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak announced that 5GB internet will be given for free to all users for three days after the connection is restored, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. The mobile internet connectivity was restored at around 3:00 pm local time.

Users of Robi, Grameenphone, Banglalink and other operators in Dhaka said they could access the internet through their phones around 3 pm, the report said. On July 18, the government shut down mobile internet following the escalation of violence across the country.

At the time, Palak said the decision was made “in light of the current crisis in the country and to stop the spread of fake news on social media”, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

The next day, amid escalating violence, the Department of Disaster Management building was set on fire, adjacent to which was a data centre. While Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) officials said that the fire might cut 30-40 per cent of the bandwidth supply, broadband internet connection for the entire country was disrupted within an hour.

Bangladesh stayed disconnected from both broadband and mobile internet between July 18 and July 23, when broadband internet was restored in stages. However, mobile internet remained unavailable until Sunday.

Regarding access to social media platforms, Palak said the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has sent letters to authorities of social media platforms, including Facebook, Tiktok and YouTube.agencies