Internet service remains operational in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the government did not shut it down anywhere, according to an official statement of the Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology (ICT) minister on Saturday.
A media statement of the ICT minister said that a report that said the government had shut down internet because of the tense situation in the CHT is not true, reports BSS.
In response to the ministry's query, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Saturday said it didn't issue any directive to shut down the mobile network and stop broadband internet in Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts.
The telecom regulator said that mobile networks and internet were disrupted in some parts of the districts due to cut down of fibre 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 became non-operational as the optical fibre 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, BTRC said.
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.
BTRC said that there are 72 towers of Teletalk in Khagrachari district, out of which 29 towers- including 23 for power disruption and six for other reasons are out of order currently.
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 exempt from section 144, according to 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 several areas, a small number of customers are facing internet connection disruption.
The broadband internet services are gradually being restored in these areas as the ISP operators in the areas are working to repair the damaged network and provide internet service to the customers through generators.
The people of the CHT areas have been requested not to be misguided in this regard, added the release.
