The Internet in Bangladesh has witnessed significant growth despite facing many constraints in expanding Internet access and use. Development of the Internet and information technology is a high government priority. In 2025, Internet users in Bangladesh increased to 92 million with internet penetration at 53%.

On 19 February 2018, Bangladesh started the 4G network service.

Statistics

Internet users: 53% of the population (2024). Household penetration: 54.8% (2025). Fixed Broadband: 14.6 million (2025). Mobile Broadband: 89% (2026). Internet hosts: 109.3 thousand (2017)."Distributions by Top-Level Domain Name (by hostcount)", Internet Systems Corporation, January 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2018. Mobile social media penetration: 77.3% (2025). Internet subscriptions: 135.94 million (June 2026). Mobile phone subscriptions: 189.83 million (June 2026).

Evolution

Starting in the early 1990s, Bangladesh had dialup access to e-mail using the Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) of a few local providers, but the number of users did not total more than 500. Users were charged by the kilobyte and email was transferred from the BBS service providers to the rest of the world by international dialup using UUCP.

In June 1996 the first VSAT base data circuit in the country was commissioned and the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) granted licenses to two Internet service providers (ISPs). In subsequent years more liberal government policies led to a rapid expansion of the industry, resulting in over 180 registered ISPs by 2005. ISPs are currently regulated by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) through the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act."A short history of the Bangladesh ISP Industry" , Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh, accessed 27 September 2011

In May 2006 Bangladesh inaugurated new submarine cable optic fiber connectivity as part of the 16-country consortium SEA-ME-WE 4 project. The landing station is in Cox's Bazar, the southern city near the Bay of Bengal. In July 2008 the Submarine Cable Project was transformed into the company Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), which is now responsible for all services related to the submarine cable."BSCCL website"

Recent Developments (2018-2025) The internet landscape in Bangladesh has transformed dramatically since the late 2010s. On 19 February 2018, Bangladesh officially launched 4G network services, marking a significant milestone in mobile internet connectivity.

By June 2025, Bangladesh reached 188.45 million mobile phone subscribers, with Grameenphone leading at 86.51 million subscribers, followed by Robi (57.40 million), Banglalink (37.95 million), and Teletalk (6.59 million). Internet subscribers grew exponentially to 133.61 million by June 2025, comprising 119.29 million mobile internet users and 14.32 million ISP/PSTN subscribers.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reported in 2025 that 54.8% of households had internet access, a significant increase from 43.6% in 2023.

Network coverage expanded significantly, with 4G coverage reaching 100% and 3G coverage at 99.80% by 2025. Internet penetration reached 44.5% in 2025. The communication services market revenue was projected to reach US$4.9 billion in 2025, dominated by mobile data with a projected market volume of US$2.5 billion.

Infrastructure development continued to be a priority, with industry leaders at the TowerCo Build Forward Forum 2025 emphasizing the need for policy reform, infrastructure resilience, and cross-sector collaboration. The forum highlighted that TowerCos enable over 90% of the country's mobile network coverage and launched the Bangladesh TowerCo Association to drive collective advocacy and regulatory engagement.

According to OpenSignal's February 2025 report, Grameenphone led in overall mobile experience with a video experience score of 57.6 points, followed by Robi (52.7), Banglalink (50.6), and Teletalk (50.0). Download speeds showed similar rankings, with Grameenphone at 23.3 Mbit/s and Teletalk at 11.8 Mbit/s.

Usage The number of Internet subscriptions in Bangladesh grew from 186,000 in 2000 to 617,300 in 2009."Internet users", World Bank, accessed 27 September 2011 However, only 0.4% of the population used the Internet in 2009 giving Bangladesh one of the lowest usage percentages in the world, ahead of only North Korea, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone."Internet users (per 100 people)", The World Bank This limited Internet penetration is due to many factors, including: unavailability in rural areas, high costs, little local content, limited or poor service quality, lack of infrastructure with the last mile often limited to dial-up, too many providers competing in a relatively small market, and low literacy rates. By 2011 however, the number of Internet users in Bangladesh had seen high growth of over 900% bringing the total number of users to 5,501,609 (3.5% of the total population) mainly due to wide availability of mobile Internet access."Internet World Stats", Source: ITU

In April 2010, Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president of Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh, said "we've estimated that nearly 10 million people in the country are using 800,000 Internet connections on sharing basis", adding the number of Internet users in the country is increasing roughly 15-16 percent a year."Roundup: Internet use on rise in Bangladesh" , iStockAnalyst, 29 April 2010 "This increased Internet penetration will result in a 2.6 per cent contribution to the country's GDP by 2020, while creating 129 thousand more jobs by the same year" the research added."Internet subscribers may reach 18.3m by 2020: The Financial Express, 22 January 2020", Bangladesh ICT Insight, 26 January 2010

The main obstacle to using the Internet in Bangladesh is its distribution. The Internet is still an urban privilege because telephone connections are more concentrated in urban areas, particularly in and around Dhaka. Mobile operators are providing substantial services in and outside urban areas using 3G/EDGE, there are also WiMax providers.

However, recently Bangladesh has seen growth in internet usage. Due to government various initiatives known as a2i project (open Hotspot zone, government offices with internet facility, Reduce bandwidth price etc.) have impacted the growth of users. As of April 2019, internet subscribers have reached 93.702 million users.

Recent Growth and Current Status (2020-2025) Internet usage in Bangladesh has experienced exponential growth since 2020. By 2025, the total number of internet subscribers reached 77.7 million, representing a penetration rate of 44.5% of the population. Mobile internet dominates the market with 119.29 million subscribers, while fixed broadband connections reached 14.32 million.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption, with internet users growing by 28% in 2020 alone. By 2025, mobile data consumption per user reached 8.2 GB per month, a significant increase from 1.2 GB in 2020.

The government's "Digital Bangladesh" initiative has been particularly successful in bridging the urban-rural divide. Internet access in rural areas increased from 28% in 2020 to 49% in 2025, though significant gaps remain compared to urban areas where penetration reached 78%.

The economic impact of internet usage has surpassed earlier predictions. The digital economy contributed 4.2% to Bangladesh's GDP in 2025, exceeding the 2020 projection of 2.6%. The sector created approximately 350,000 new jobs by 2025, primarily in e-commerce, digital services, and IT-enabled services.

Despite significant progress, challenges remain. Internet speed continues to lag behind regional peers, with average mobile download speeds of 39.85 Mbit/s compared to the global average of 45.6 Mbit/s (93rd in the world). The gender gap in internet access has narrowed but persists, with 48% female users compared to 52% male users in 2025.

Cybersecurity With the rapid expansion of 4G and broadband services, the country's digital infrastructure has become a frequent target for automated cyber threats. Research conducted in early 2026 indicated a sharp increase in SSH brute-force attacks against local Linux servers, particularly affecting the financial and telecommunications sectors.

Service quality

While the Internet speed in Bangladesh may not be among the fastest in the world, it has significantly improved in the recent past. As of July 2015, Bangladesh ranked 90th out of 198 countries on the Household Download Index by Net Index. Especially, the completion of the Kuakata submarine cable (Regional Submarine Telecommunications Project, Bangladesh) of BSCCL has added significant amount of transmission capacity (through SEA-ME-WE 5 Cable) and provided redundancy and low-latency with PoP to PoP connectivity.

Since starting of the Cox's Bazar submarine cable (through the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable) in 2006, the country has seen the Internet bandwidth price to drop significantly. In 2008, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) slashed wholesale Internet bandwidth prices drastically, from BDT 80,000 (approximately US$1,125) per Mbit/s to BDT 18,000 (approximately US$250) per Mbit/s. In 2009, after complaints that retail prices were still too high for slow, unreliable connections, the BTRC indicated that they were going to begin monitoring ISPs to ensure that retail prices reflected the reduced wholesale prices. Inside the capital city, the retail price has been reduced and quality of Internet has become standardized significantly through the optical fiber internet providers. However, Internet connectivity with acceptable quality and reliability is still relatively costly for outside of Dhaka.

The government sees information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a key driver of socioeconomic development. This is reflected in the government's "Digital Bangladesh" plan as well as the National Information and Communication Technology Policy. Bangladesh is slowly moving up in the worldwide ICT rankings, rising from 130th in 2009 to 113th in 2012 in the "networked readiness index". But, while its ITC ranking has improved, Bangladesh still lags behind other low-income countries of its stature. Progress is limited due to deficiencies in the regulatory framework and infrastructure development."Bangladesh moving slowly up in ICT: Analysts say weak regulatory regimes cast a blight on the sector", Abdullah Mamun, The Daily Star, 12 August 2012 And ICT leaders are concerned that the annual budget does not support the government's ICT goals.

Internet services National Internet Exchanges (NIXs) and International Internet Gateways (IIGs)