Depression, rain disrupts mobile phone service

Different parts of Bangladesh are experiencing disruptions to mobile telecommunication service due to the influence of the depression that formed over the Bay of Bengal. Several thousand mobile towers and sites are down due to the rain and lack of power.

Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief advisor on post, telecommunications, and ICT, said in a Facebook post that 5,000 sites are currently down.

"Telecommunication services are being disrupted across the country due to the impact of low-pressure storms and floods, and natural disasters on the power supply system,” he said. “Telecommunication service workers, including Rural Electrification, are working tirelessly to restore the telecommunication network."

This has had a huge effect in the Barishal, Sylhet south, Tangail, Chandpur, Mymensingh, Dhaka North, Cumilla, Noakhali, and Chattogram south areas, he said.

However, those involved with three private mobile operators say that the total number of sites that are non-functional is near 13,000. Of these, are 4,474 Grameenphone sites, 3,020 Banglalink sites, and 5,500 Robi sites.