The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has ordered a shutdown of mobile networks along the borders with India citing security reasons, an order estimated to affect around 10 million users in 32 districts.
The operators already suspended networks within one kilometre of the borders with India on Monday after receiving an order on Sunday night.
The four operators closed around 2,000 base transceiver stations, an official of an operator said requesting anonymity.
“This will create problems for around 10 million users in the border areas,” the official said.
In the order to Grameenphone, Teletalk, Robi and Banglalink, the BTRC said network coverage in the border areas will have to be suspended until further notice “for the sake of the country’s security in the current circumstances”. BTRC senior staffers declined to give further explanations however stated the instructions were “temporary” measures.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has reinforced their positions along the frontier to prevent intrusion of Indian and Burmese nationals. The halt in mobile network operations is a direct result of heightened security measures taken by the Bangladeshi security forces.
Earlier the government cracked down on mobile phone use by Burmese intruders in Bangladesh.
