Internet service remains operational in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the government did not shut it down anywhere, said an official statement on Saturday.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has not given any instructions to stop mobile network and fixed broadband internet in three districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts and anywhere in the country, confirmed by its media wing on Saturday.
On the same day, Media and broadcasting Advisor Nahid Islam has also said that the government did not take any official action to shut down the internet in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The issues being reported were minor and exaggerated, ensuring that internet services in the region remain uninterrupted.
He made these remarks while visiting the flood-affected areas of South Andharmanik in Chhagalnaiya, Feni.
Addressing the media, Nahid Islam said, “There has been no government order to close internet services in the Chittagong Hill Tracts or any other area. There were isolated instances where minor issues occurred, leading to temporary disruptions, but these are being blown out of proportion with claims of a complete internet shutdown. No such directive was issued, nor did any such incident take place.”
The telecom regulator said that mobile network and internet were disrupted in some parts of the districts due to cut down of fiber optic cables and power disruption during the untoward situation.
BTRC said that clashes took place on Thursday in Dighinala of Khagrachari district and at that time 16 network towers of mobile operator Robi become non-operational as the optical fiber of NTTN operators- Summit Communications Limited and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) were damaged due to the arson incidents. It was not possible to repair all those towers immediately due to the ongoing tense situation. Robi has about 150 network towers in the district.
The release said that Robi has managed to bring 14 towers into operation till Friday while two towers are yet to be repaired. All sites are expected to be operational soon.
Due to this, the mobile internet connection was slightly disrupted which is currently normal.
As section 144 was in force in the concerned areas, the repair work was delayed. Later all telecommunication works were declared exemption from the section 144, said the ministry release.
On the other hand, Internet Service Providers (ISP) in an explanation said that broadband internet services were operational in Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts on Friday during the untoward situation. However, due to the damage of internet connection cable in some areas and the power disruption in a number of areas, a small number of customers are facing internet connection disruption.
