During the anti-discrimination movement before the July-August mass uprising, the country's internet services were shut down for about two weeks. Since then, there has been only a slight improvement in internet speed. At the same time, the quality of internet services has declined. Customers are complaining about insufficient speed. According to the Global Speedtest Ookla Index, while there has been some improvement in mobile internet download speed in the country after July-August, upload speed has decreased.

Experts say the lack of progress in mobile internet services is due to several factors, including the prolonged disruption of internet services in the country during July-August, the shutdown of cache servers, and the absence of new investments from mobile internet service providers. To overcome this situation, along with providing legal support to the BTRC, mobile operators must be encouraged to increase their investments.

According to Ookla's Speedtest Global Index data, the country's current mobile internet download speed is 28.42 Mbps, upload speed is 11.13 Mbps, and latency is 25 ms (milliseconds). In June, the download speed was 24.49 Mbps; in July, it increased to 27.8 Mbps; in August, it was 27.76 Mbps; and in September, it reached 28.42 Mbps.

While download speed has risen, the opposite trend is seen in upload speed. In July, the upload speed was 11.31 Mbps; in August, it decreased to 11.22 Mbps; and in September, it dropped to 11.13 Mbps. Latency also decreased during the July-August uprising period. In June, the latency was 26 ms, but it decreased to 25 ms in July. The government shut down mobile and fixed internet services starting from July 18.

Latency refers to the time it takes for data to be delivered over the Internet. It is the amount of time required for the data sent by a user to reach its destination. Technology experts say latency increases due to distance between data centers and devices, excessive data traffic, and large file downloads. There is no way to reduce data latency to zero, but it can be minimized through infrastructure improvements.

When asked about this, Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury, the former CEO of Robi Axiata Limited, told Bonik Barta, "The speed shown by Ookla is not bad at all. It often depends on the location. When you are at the office or home, the spectrum may not reach effectively. On top of that, if there is glass, the network can be further obstructed. It is not possible to make any conclusions based on just one test. A comprehensive observation of the overall situation is necessary before drawing any conclusions."

Azizur Rahman Rizvi, an officer of a government organization that uses Robi and Teletalk SIM cards, shared his experience with mobile internet usage with Bonik Barta. He said, "During and after July, there was a significant decline in internet network, speed, and service quality. Especially with Robi and Teletalk, it is very common for the connection to suddenly switch from 4G to 2G while using data. This is happening very frequently, even in areas like Dhaka. Even though Teletalk shows 4G/3G signals, the data often doesn't work. Suddenly, there is no data signal at all. And the situation with download and upload speeds is pathetic!"

Technologists say that in the past, ISP operators and mobile operators in the country had Points of Presence (PoPs) from Google and Facebook. These PoPs acted as cache servers for data centers. When a customer retrieves information from the main data center, it is stored on the cache server. Later, when other customers seek the same information, the server retrieves the relevant website data from a nearby CDN server.

CDNs generally work in three ways. Points of Presence (PoPs) are used to bring content closer to visitors. Multiple caching servers are set up, similar to a data center. Each data center is established in various countries worldwide, reducing the overall path for file transfer.

Then, each caching server uses the CDN to cache each website. Due to the presence of servers in different countries, when a website is visited from any location, the page is loaded from the server closest to that location. This reduces the website loading speed and significantly lowers bandwidth costs.

When asked about this, Rakibul Hasan, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of LinkThree Technologies Limited, told Bonik Barta, "Many internet users in our country primarily use services like Google and Facebook. These companies' Points of Presence (PoPs) need to be brought inside the country. However, legal barriers, such as the 'Intermediary Liability Protection' policy, hinder the establishment of such CDN networks in Bangladesh."

He said, "For example, if Meta or Google opens a data center for their PoP in Bangladesh, what happens if users post content that causes issues for the government? Can the government shut down that data center? Along with these issues, we must simplify the investment climate, including international infrastructure, and encourage these companies to invest in PoPs here. This will improve customer experience and drastically reduce internet costs. As a result, faster internet services will be available."