Despite a lot of hype surrounding the high-tech network for smartphones throughout the last year, the number of 4G subscribers reached only 11.7 million in the first 10 months of introducing it in the country.
In the meantime, the number of 3G subscribers reached 63.5 million, according to the latest data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
The telecom regulator has revealed annual statistics regarding the telecom industry this week, which show that there were around 156.9 million mobile subscribers in the country at the end of 2018.
That means only about 7.43 per cent of the mobile subscribers are currently using the 4G network while around 40.47 per cent using the 3G network.
Amid much frenzy, 4G service was formally launched in Bangladesh in February last year -- almost six years after its predecessor 3G was introduced in the country.
Top mobile operators such as Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink said they have been able to extend the 4G network up to the upazila level.
However, as the latest BTRC data suggest, the vast majority of mobile subscribers still remain beyond the spectrum of high-speed Internet.
Asked, industry insiders blamed it on the low penetration of smartphones in the country.
"When we launched 3G services back in 2013, the penetration of 3G-enabled devices was only 20 per cent. Even now, it is only 38 per cent," said Shahed Alam, Head of Regulatory Affairs of Robi.
"Again, when we launched the 4G service in February last year, the penetration of 4G-enabled devices was only 14 per cent and now it stood at only 19 per cent," he added.
High tariff on the import of smartphones has often been blamed for relatively high prices of the devices and low smartphone penetration rate in the country.
Currently, importers have to pay around 32 per cent duty to import mobile handsets.
The telecom regulator, however, was relatively satisfied with the initial penetration rate of 4G technology in the country.
"The first 10 months saw 11.7 million 4G subscribers, which is not a bad number. However, the rate would go up further in the coming months," said Md Jahurul Haque, acting chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Meanwhile, the country ended the year 2018 with a total of 91.3 million Internet subscribers, up from 80.05 million users a year ago.
An overwhelming majority of the subscribers -- around 85.5 million -- are accessing the Internet through smartphones, according to the official data.
The teledensity of the country reached 96.36 per cent in 2018 from 90.04 per cent a year ago.
Internet density, at the same time, jumped to 55.82 per cent from 49.69 per cent during the same period.
The country's bandwidth capacity also increased from 785 GBPS to 960 GBPS in the last year while bandwidth use rose from 575 GBPS to 913 GBPS.
