Telecommunications Law in Bangladesh: BTRC Licensing and Regulation in 2026

Telecommunications law Bangladesh: the 2026 framework

The telecommunications law Bangladesh operators and investors work under changed more in the twelve months to April 2026 than in the previous fifteen years. A new licensing policy in September 2025 collapsed more than twenty licence types into four network layers, and the Bangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Act 2026, in force from 5 February 2026, rewrote the core statute: it restored most licensing power to the regulator, banned deliberate internet shutdowns, rebuilt the lawful interception regime and reset penalties.[1] [2] [7]

This guide is for operators, infrastructure investors, satellite and OTT providers, equipment suppliers and their advisers. It explains the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001 as amended, the powers and accountability of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the licence categories and their conditions, foreign ownership limits, spectrum, interception, the shutdown prohibition and enforcement. Cyber offences, personal data and wider technology regulation are covered in companion TRW guides, which we link to rather than repeat.

Summary: Anyone who builds or operates a telecommunications system, provides a telecom or internet service, uses radio spectrum or trades in telecom equipment in Bangladesh needs BTRC authorisation. Since February 2026 the BTRC decides most licences alone, while "nationally important" licences such as mobile, international connectivity, national infrastructure and satellite still need the government's prior approval. Foreign ownership is capped by licensing policy rather than by the Act, and intentional internet shutdowns are now prohibited by statute.

Key point: The 2026 amendment is now an Act of Parliament, not an interim ordinance. The Bangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Act 2026 is Act No. 51 of 2026, gazetted on 10 April 2026, and Parliament passed it without changing the ordinance it replaced. Its changes run from 5 February 2026, so licence applications, share transfers and enforcement since that date are governed by the amended text.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

The statutory framework of telecommunications law Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001 (Act No. 18 of 2001) is the central statute. It establishes the BTRC, sets out the licensing system, governs interconnection, tariffs, equipment standards and spectrum, protects consumers and creates the offences that support enforcement.[1] The colonial Telegraph Act 1885 and the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 still apply, but only subject to the 2001 Act, which prevails in any inconsistency; section 5 also gives the Act overriding effect over other laws generally.[1]

The Act has been amended three times in ways that matter. The 2006 amendment (Act No. 7 of 2006) inserted the lawful interception provisions in sections 97A to 97C. The 2010 amendment (Act No. 41 of 2010) renamed the statute the Telecommunication Regulation Act, raised fines into the hundreds of crores and placed licensing decisions under the government's prior approval. The 2026 amendment reversed much of that design, deleted "Regulation" from the short title and renamed the Commission in Bangla as a "regulatory" commission.[1] [4]

From interim ordinance to Act No. 51 of 2026

The interim government's Advisory Council approved the Bangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 in late December 2025, presenting it as a package to ban internet shutdowns, abolish the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), rebuild interception oversight and restore BTRC autonomy.[4] [6] The consolidated text records the changes as effective from 5 February 2026.[1] After the February 2026 elections, Parliament passed the Bangladesh Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill 2026 on 9 April 2026 among the bills that kept interim-era ordinances unchanged, and it was published as Act No. 51 of 2026 on 10 April 2026.[2] [3]

Section 103, inserted in 2026, preserves proceedings and actions taken in continuity with provisions that had lapsed, treating them as taken under the Act.[1] Licences, permits and pending enforcement matters therefore carried across, but must now be read against the amended text.

Other laws that sit beside the Telecommunication Act

Telecoms work rarely stops at one statute. Content blocking, hacking and online harms are governed by the Cyber Security Act 2026, analysed in our guide to cyber law in Bangladesh. Subscriber and traffic data held by operators engage the Personal Data Protection Act 2026, covered in our data protection guide. Electronic signatures, digital commerce and fintech are mapped in our overview of technology law in Bangladesh. The 2026 amendment cross-refers to the Cyber Security Act in several offence provisions, so the two regimes must be read together.[1]

The BTRC: powers, independence and accountability

The BTRC is a statutory body of five full-time commissioners, one of whom the government appoints as chairman and another as vice-chairman.[1] At least two must be engineers with fifteen years' telecom experience, at least one a lawyer or judge qualified for appointment to the High Court Division, and at least one a person with fifteen years in business, finance, economics or administration. Commissioners serve three-year terms, renewable once, and must leave office at 65; an interest in a licensed operator disqualifies them.[1]

What the regulator does

The BTRC issues licences, permits and enlistments, assigns all radio frequencies, approves tariffs, sets equipment and service standards, regulates interconnection and resolves consumer complaints.[1] The 2026 amendment added two functions with commercial significance: assigning and supervising frequencies for radio, television and other broadcast media, and acting as the sole authority for the technical compliance of all licensees with lawful interception standards.[1] It also gave the BTRC power to declare "critical telecommunication infrastructure", direct security standards for it and require monitoring or anti-attack equipment.[1]

The ministry's residual role

The Posts and Telecommunications Division sets general policy and frames telecom laws and rules. Under section 34 the government may issue guidelines and decisions on any telecom matter where the Act, rules or regulations are silent, and it may restructure service companies for basic telecom services in the public interest.[1] The BTRC must still send each regulation to the ministry within seven days of gazette publication, and the ministry may direct amendments for consistency with the Act and rules.[1]

New transparency duties

New section 32A requires the Commission's decisions, spending and directions to be lawful, transparent and accountable, and requires stakeholder consultation before each important decision or policy, with decisions published on its website unless national security or confidentiality justifies an exception.[1] The BTRC must hold a public hearing at least once every four months, log every constructive issue raised in a public "action tracker" with status and timelines, and publish quarterly progress summaries.[1] Its chairman welcomed the restored autonomy but warned that some accountability provisions could hinder the regulator.[5]

Licensing under telecommunications law Bangladesh

Section 35(1) prohibits anyone from doing four things without a licence: establishing, operating or building any facility of a telecommunications system in Bangladesh; providing telecom services within or from Bangladesh; building or operating internet service facilities or equipment; and, since 2026, importing, exporting, possessing, buying, selling, manufacturing, marketing or displaying telecom equipment.[1] Breach is an offence punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 300 crore, or both.[1]

The exemptions in section 35(3) are narrow. They cover isolated private systems confined to a single premises or vehicle that do not connect to another system and use no radio equipment, terminal equipment attached to a licensed network, and systems of the police, defence and security forces, the foreign ministry and intelligence agencies for their own use.[1]

Nationally important licences and BTRC licences

The 2026 amendment created two tracks. A "nationally important licence" means licences for international connectivity, national infrastructure and connectivity, non-terrestrial networks, access network services tied to spectrum assignment, nationwide cellular mobile networks, and any other licence the government designates by gazette.[1] For these, the BTRC reviews the application and recommends; the government gives prior approval; and the BTRC then issues. The application must be fully disposed of within six months, and the Commission must publish online the lists of grants and refusals with reasons.[1]

For every other licence, temporary or experimental licence, permit and enlistment, the BTRC decides and implements alone, within a maximum of three months.[1] Section 36(8) separately requires the Commission to decide within thirty days of filing, or to tell the applicant within that period, with reasons, when a decision can be expected.[1] The maximum number of nationally important licences is to be fixed by the BTRC on the basis of studies by independent experts, including telecom specialists, academics and investment experts, looking at market structure, competition, access, national security and the digital economy.[1]

Eligibility and disqualification

In deciding an application the BTRC considers financial capacity, the availability of sites and skilled staff, consistency with the Act's objectives, the effect on competition and existing licensees, and the public interest.[1] An individual is disqualified if declared of unsound mind, convicted and sentenced to two years or more within the past five years, convicted of an offence under the Act within five years, an undischarged bankrupt, a declared loan defaulter, or a former licensee whose licence the BTRC cancelled in the last five years. A company is disqualified where its owner, any director or any partner falls within those grounds.[1]

The 2026 amendment added a new ground with real bite: an applicant is ineligible where the same person or a family member already holds an active licence, in their own name or benami, and the same person or family benefits from more than one licence.[1] Groups that historically held gateway, exchange and internet licences through related companies should audit their beneficial ownership before applying for any new category.[9]

Licence conditions, renewal and amendment

No licence, or right acquired under it, may be transferred in whole or part without approval, and an unapproved transfer is void.[1] Licence conditions may include extending at least 10% of service capacity to rural and less populated areas, following BTRC numbering and network plans, disclosing national and international routes, publishing tariffs and filing an emergency continuity plan.[1] A licensee must obtain the BTRC's prior consent for any change in shareholding that partly transfers control and for any merger; a holder of a nationally important licence needs the government's prior approval for changes in share capital or ownership.[1]

Renewal of ordinary licences follows BTRC regulations, and new section 38A requires a renewal decision within thirty days based on performance, compliance, investment, service quality and customer satisfaction; renewal of a nationally important licence needs government approval.[1] The BTRC may amend licence conditions on fifteen days' notice and must decide within thirty days of the licensee's response. Suspension or cancellation grounds now expressly include breach of guideline obligations and key performance indicators, unauthorised bandwidth use and illegal call or message traffic, and a nationally important licence can be suspended or cancelled only with government approval.[1]

Section 40 is easy to miss in infrastructure deals. An operator may not let another person use its licensed system, facilities or equipment commercially, for a fee or other benefit, without a BTRC permit. Breach carries up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of up to Tk 75 crore for a first offence.[1] Capacity leases, co-location and wholesale arrangements need to be checked against the permit requirement.

The 2025 licensing reform: four network layers

Under the telecommunications law Bangladesh has adopted, the licence categories themselves are set by policy, not by the Act. The Telecommunications Network and Licensing Policy, which took effect on gazette publication in mid-September 2025, ended the International Long Distance Telecommunication Service (ILDTS) Policy 2010 and replaced more than a dozen legacy licence types with four main categories: access networks (mobile and broadband operators), national infrastructure (towers and fibre), international connectivity (such as submarine cables) and non-terrestrial networks.[7] A fifth group, telecom-enabled services, requires registration rather than a licence.[7] [10]

Existing international internet gateway (IIG), interconnection exchange (ICX), national internet exchange (NIX) and international gateway (IGW) licences are not renewed but phased out as they expire, mostly by 2027.[7] [8] Bangladesh then had about 20 IGWs, more than 30 IIGs and more than 20 ICXs.[8] The policy also recognises mobile virtual network operators for the first time.[10]

Network obligations under the policy

The policy attaches build-out obligations to the new layers: half of all mobile towers must be connected to fibre within eighteen months and 80% within three years, at least a quarter of towers in disaster-prone areas need backup diesel generation, and the national fibre backbone must reach every union parishad underground.[7] It empowers the BTRC to impose remedies on operators with significant market power and to publish a near real-time National Quality of Service Dashboard.[7]

The 2026 revision under the elected government

The framework is still moving. The BTRC sent a revised draft of the policy to the Posts and Telecommunications Division on 24 May 2026 for prior approval, after meetings chaired by the government's adviser on ICT and telecom affairs.[9] The draft would split the fixed licence into nationwide and district-level ISP categories, rename the national infrastructure licence the TCSP, split international connectivity into facility-based and non-facility-based licences, and extend TCSP and mobile licence validity from fifteen to twenty years.[9] Until the revision is approved and published, applicants should treat the September 2025 policy and its BTRC guidelines as the operative text and price in the risk of change.

The table below compares the main licence layers. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

Foreign ownership in Bangladesh telecoms

The Telecommunication Act contains no numerical foreign ownership cap. Under the telecommunications law Bangladesh investors face, foreign ownership limits come from licensing policy and licence conditions, enforced through the BTRC's power to approve shareholding changes.[1] Under the 2025 policy, foreign ownership of mobile operators is capped at 85%, so at least 15% must be held locally through a joint venture, a public listing or another BTRC-approved structure; infrastructure companies may be up to 65% foreign-owned and international connectivity providers up to 49%.[7] [8] Domestic investors may hold 100%.[8]

Existing operators have three years to comply.[7] [8] The impact is uneven: Robi is held 61.82% by Axiata and 28.18% by Bharti Airtel, and Banglalink is wholly owned by VEON, while Grameenphone already meets the threshold.[10] The June 2026 revised draft would permit foreign ownership of up to 80% for ISP, TCSP, mobile and facility-based international connectivity licences, while the BTRC reportedly wants majority local ownership for international connectivity.[9]

Structuring a foreign investment

Foreign ownership caps interact with three statutory controls. Any change in shareholding that partly transfers control of a licensee, and any merger, needs BTRC consent; for a nationally important licence the government's approval is also required; and the incoming controller must itself be eligible to hold the licence.[1] The multiple-licence disqualification looks through to beneficial ownership and family members.[1] Corporate registration, BIDA approvals and foreign exchange repatriation follow the general investment regime explained in our guide to investment approvals in Bangladesh. For telecommunications law Bangladesh purposes, the order matters: settle the ownership structure with the regulator before the shares move.

Spectrum management and the 700 MHz auction

No person may install, operate or use radio equipment in Bangladesh, its territorial waters or the airspace above them without a BTRC licence or frequency assignment, or use any frequency other than the one assigned.[1] The BTRC has sole jurisdiction over radio licences and frequency assignment. Unlicensed use carries up to ten years' imprisonment or a fine of up to Tk 99 crore, reduced in 2026 from Tk 300 crore, plus up to Tk 10 lakh for each day the offence continues.[1]

Trading, sharing and refarming

Spectrum licences and assignments remain non-transferable, but the 2026 amendment now allows spectrum trading, sharing, leasing and surrender with the BTRC's prior approval; without approval, the transaction is void.[1] The BTRC may refarm frequency bands to secure efficient use. A further 2026 provision requires internationally identified IMT mobile spectrum to be kept open for commercial use, and any IMT spectrum previously allocated to non-WRC-approved uses to be released as quickly as possible.[1]

The Spectrum Management Committee and type approval

The Spectrum Management Committee, chaired by a commissioner and including Finance Division and Posts and Telecommunications Division representatives of at least joint secretary rank, recommends frequency allocation and pricing policy, band plans and licence conditions.[1] Equipment that needs a technical acceptance certificate, or type approval, cannot be used, sold, leased or displayed without one; the maximum fine was reduced in 2026 to Tk 15 crore, alongside up to five years' imprisonment.[1] The BTRC may establish its own test and certification laboratories and must set EMF and EMC standards for network infrastructure.[1]

The January 2026 700 MHz auction

Bangladesh's first 700 MHz auction showed how thin the market for new spectrum is. Robi withdrew, Banglalink and Teletalk stayed out, and on 21 January 2026 the auction and spectrum management committees approved the assignment of 10 MHz of the 25 MHz on offer to Grameenphone at the base price of Tk 237 crore per MHz, for Tk 2,370 crore in total.[11] The per-operator cap had been cut from 15 MHz to 10 MHz, and about 20 MHz of the band was tied up in a long-running dispute with Always On Network.[12]

The High Court Division issued a rule questioning whether a single-bidder auction undermined fair competition and was consistent with Article 27 of the Constitution and the public trust doctrine, but allowed the process to continue and called for responses from the ministry, the BTRC and the Finance Division.[12] Future bidders should expect auction design to be tested in writ proceedings.

Satellite, OTT and the wider TMT perimeter

Technology, media and telecommunications work in Bangladesh increasingly turns on where the licensing perimeter sits. Satellite broadband now has a home in the non-terrestrial network category.[7] Starlink obtained its operating licence on 29 April 2025 and launched commercially on 20 May 2025.[10] Satellite and submarine cable licences are among the nationally important licences that still need government approval.[1] [5]

OTT services and content

For the first time the Act defines "over-the-top (OTT)" services: content, services or applications delivered, broadcast, streamed or made available directly to end users over a telecom network or the internet, without the provider establishing separate telecom infrastructure.[1] It also defines "content" broadly. The definitions do not by themselves impose an OTT licence, but they give the BTRC and the government a statutory hook for registration and conduct rules for telecom-enabled services under the 2025 policy.[1] [7]

Broadcasting, equipment and network security

Broadcasters deal with the BTRC for frequencies, even though broadcast content and channel permissions sit with other authorities.[1] Equipment importers, distributors and manufacturers now need a licence under section 35(1)(d) and type approval under section 57.[1] New section 52A also lets the BTRC collect and analyse traffic and internet data for network cyber security analytics and require parental controls and, where applicable, age verification for children's use of the internet.[1] For the broader picture of platform, fintech and e-commerce regulation, see our guide to e-commerce law in Bangladesh.

Lawful interception after the 2026 amendment

The Constitution protects the privacy of correspondence and communications, subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law, and section 97A, replaced in 2026, is the main such law for telecoms. It allows the government, or an authority it designates, to authorise the interception, monitoring, recording, storage or analysis of a user's messages, conversations and related data for a fixed period, but only in the interest of state security, public order or the prevention of serious crime, and only on satisfying necessity, proportionality and legality.[1] For these purposes "government" means the Ministry of Home Affairs.[1]

Safeguards in the statute

No interception may take effect without the prior approval of a court or an authority constituted by the government, although an authorised authority may give temporary approval in an emergency.[1] Each interception must have a defined duration, scope and purpose; it is allowed only where no less intrusive method would work; full logs, records and audit trails must be kept; and no one outside the section may intercept.[1] Intercepted material must be kept confidential and secure and destroyed when the period ends unless needed in pending proceedings. The government must create an independent review council or committee to review legality, necessity and accountability periodically.[1]

Section 97B makes intercept material admissible in court only where the interception was lawfully authorised, an unbroken chain of custody is shown and authenticity and integrity are proved; material gathered for intelligence purposes alone is not independent evidence unless proved again through lawful process.[1] Detailed procedure, including retention, is left to rules under section 97A(9).[1]

From NTMC to a support centre

Section 97A(3) requires the government to designate a central lawful interception support agency to provide technical assistance.[1] When the ordinance was approved, the government said the NTMC would be abolished and replaced by a Centre for Information Support under the Home Ministry, which would provide technical support to authorised agencies under role-based access controls rather than intercept on its own initiative.[4] [6] It also announced a three-member quasi-judicial council, chaired by the law minister with the Principal Staff Officer and the Home Secretary as members, to approve requests and hear complaints, and an annual interception report to Parliament.[4] [5]

The enacted section leaves the approving authority's composition to the government. Under the telecommunications law Bangladesh now applies, operators should ask for the instrument constituting that authority before acting on a request.

Operator duties and offences

An operator must assist an authorised authority once it receives a lawful direction, and failing to comply with an interception order issued under section 97A is an offence under section 97C, with fines that escalate on repetition and the possibility of a court recommending cancellation of the licence.[1]

The other side of the ledger is equally sharp. Intentional eavesdropping on a conversation in breach of the Act carries up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to Tk 1.5 crore, and the 2026 amendment makes it an offence, with the same penalty, to surveil or harass citizens using SIM and device registration data.[1] Unauthorised collection, transfer or interception of call detail records, IP data, traffic data or subscriber data carries up to five years or Tk 49 crore.[1] Investigation powers under the Cyber Security Act 2026 are analysed in our cyber law guide.

Internet shutdown rules

Section 97(1) still gives the government priority over any operator or user in the use of radio and telecom systems during war, hostilities, internal rebellion or disorder, or other emergency state needs.[1] That was the provision cited around the July 2024 blackout. The 2026 amendment replaced section 97(2) with a direct prohibition: notwithstanding anything in the Act or any other law, telecommunication connections, any telecom-related service and the internet may not under any circumstances be intentionally or with malicious intent shut down, obstructed or restricted.[1]

Why the prohibition was enacted

During the 2024 quota reform protests, mobile internet was suspended in parts of Dhaka from 15 July, extended to 59 universities on 16 July, and on 18 July the BTRC told submarine cable and international connectivity providers to halt bandwidth, disconnecting the country by about 9pm.[13]

A government probe found that the BTRC and the NTMC acted on orders of the then state minister, that the data-centre fire explanation was false, and that the decision was taken without full consultation of BTRC commissioners; mobile internet was off for ten days and platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp for thirteen.[13] Measured national connectivity was lost for about five and a half days, at an estimated cost of more than US$21.9 million over the first five days.[14]

What the prohibition does and does not cover

The ban is broad: it covers full shutdowns, localised suspensions and throttling, because "restricted" and "obstructed" sit alongside "shut down".[1] It does not remove targeted content blocking, which is governed by the Cyber Security Act 2026, nor does it prevent maintenance outages or a licensee's suspension for breach. The qualifier "intentionally or with malicious intent" leaves room for argument about technical disruption, so operators receiving any instruction to suspend or degrade service should insist on a written order, record its legal basis and take advice before complying.

Tariffs, interconnection and consumer protection

An operator must file a tariff proposal with maximum and minimum rates before starting a service and may not charge until it is approved.[1] Since 2026 the BTRC needs government prior approval only for new tariffs and changes with a major financial effect, defined as an increase or decrease of more than 2.5%, and handles smaller changes and inflation adjustments itself. It must decide within fifteen days and give reasons for refusal within three days.[1] Discriminatory charges are prohibited, with administrative fines of up to Tk 3 crore and compensation of up to Tk 1 crore.[1]

Where several operators each serve more than 25% of subscribers in an area, they must conclude transparent, non-discriminatory, cost-based interconnection agreements within three months of a new operator's launch, failing which the BTRC may impose terms.[1] Consumers must first complain to the operator; the BTRC now runs an online complaint system that must acknowledge and act on a complaint within ten working days and resolve it within forty-five.[1]

Offences, penalties and enforcement

The 2026 amendment rebalanced the penalty side of telecommunications law Bangladesh, which the government described as reducing high and repetitive penalties to make the sector more investment-friendly.[4] [5] The general administrative fine is now up to Tk 49 crore for breach of the Act, rules or regulations, must be proportionate to the company's investment and turnover, and does not exclude compensation; administrative fines cannot be used for unlicensed operation, unlicensed radio use or uncertified equipment, which go to the criminal courts.[1]

The rewritten offence provisions

Section 66 punishes intentionally sending false or deceptive distress signals, messages or content by up to five years or Tk 49 crore. Section 66A now lists specific offences committed through telecom equipment or platforms: acts intended to harm national security, sovereignty, public order or economic interests; hate speech directing violence or crime; hacking or disrupting strategic fibre, data centres or licensee servers; jamming satellite, aviation, navigation or emergency communications; spoofed geolocation signals; bulk SMS, bulk AI-call or synthetic identity fraud; and targeted electromagnetic pollution.[1] The penalty is up to five years or Tk 99 crore.

All offences under the Act are cognizable. All are bailable except the national security offence in section 66A(1)(a), and all are compoundable on payment of applicable compensation and administrative fines.[1] Using another person's voice, image or biometric data through artificial intelligence to harm someone is also now an offence under section 70(3).[1]

Appeals and arbitration

A person aggrieved by an administrative fine may appeal to an appeal authority the government must constitute by rules, or start arbitration.[1] New section 82B makes any arbitrable dispute under the Act, other than a defined offence, resolvable under the Arbitration Act 2001.[1] Operators with large legacy disputes over revenue share, spectrum charges or licence fees now have a statutory route to arbitration, and licence agreements should be drafted with that in mind.

Technology, media and telecommunications advisory

A TMT mandate under telecommunications law Bangladesh usually involves several regulators at once. The BTRC sits at the centre, but ownership, investment, data and content questions are decided elsewhere.

A practical compliance programme

For a new entrant, a legacy licensee migrating to the new layers or a foreign investor buying into an operator, the same sequence of work recurs.

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Mistakes to avoid under telecommunications law Bangladesh

The errors we see most often are avoidable. The first is assuming a software or cloud business needs no BTRC authorisation when it also operates network facilities, resells bandwidth or imports radio equipment; section 35 now reaches equipment trading as well as networks.[1] The second is moving shares, even within a group, without BTRC consent, which risks a void transfer and suspension. The third is relying on a legacy gateway or exchange licence without a migration plan for its expiry.[7]

Others are more technical. Capacity leases signed without a section 40 permit, spectrum sharing agreed commercially before BTRC approval, related-party licence holdings that trip the new multiple-licence bar, and interception or disclosure requests answered without checking the authorising instrument all create exposure that a short review would have prevented.[1] Finally, many contracts and compliance manuals still quote pre-2026 penalty figures that telecommunications law Bangladesh has since changed.

What to watch in late 2026 and 2027

Four developments will shape the next year. The revised licensing policy sent for approval in May 2026 will settle the ISP, infrastructure and international connectivity categories and the foreign ownership caps that go with them.[9] Rules under sections 97A and 82A are needed to give the interception safeguards and the fine appeal authority practical effect.[1] The three-year foreign ownership compliance window will force decisions at the multinational mobile operators.[7] And the 700 MHz writ, together with the next spectrum rounds, will test how far courts will scrutinise auction design.[12]

For any business affected by the changes to telecommunications law Bangladesh has made, the message is simple: confirm the licence layer, approval track and ownership cap before committing capital, and build regulatory conditions into transaction documents. Our technology, media and telecoms practice advises on each of these questions.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main telecommunications law in Bangladesh?

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001 (Act No. 18 of 2001), as amended in 2006, 2010 and most recently by the Bangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Act 2026, Act No. 51 of 2026.[1] [2]

When did the 2026 telecom amendment take effect?

Its changes run from 5 February 2026, when the ordinance took effect. Parliament passed the replacing bill unchanged on 9 April 2026 and it was gazetted on 10 April 2026.[1] [2] [3]

Does every telecom licence need government approval?

No. Only nationally important licences, such as mobile, international connectivity, national infrastructure, non-terrestrial and spectrum-linked access licences, need the government's prior approval. The BTRC decides all other licences, permits and enlistments alone.[1]

How long does the BTRC take to decide a licence application?

The Act sets outer limits of six months for nationally important licences and three months for others, and separately requires a decision or a reasoned notice of delay within thirty days of filing.[1]

What are the licence categories under the 2025 telecom policy?

Access networks, national infrastructure, international connectivity and non-terrestrial networks, with telecom-enabled services registered rather than licensed. Legacy IGW, ICX, IIG and NIX licences are being phased out as they expire, mostly by 2027.[7]

How much of a Bangladeshi mobile operator can a foreign investor own?

Up to 85% under the 2025 policy, with at least 15% held locally; existing operators have three years to comply. Infrastructure firms are capped at 65% and international connectivity providers at 49%, and a revised draft proposes 80% for several categories.[7] [9]

Can spectrum be traded or shared in Bangladesh?

Yes, since 2026, but only with the BTRC's prior approval. Spectrum trading, sharing, leasing or surrender without approval is void.[1]

Is it legal for the government to shut down the internet?

Section 97(2), replaced in 2026, prohibits intentionally or maliciously shutting down, obstructing or restricting telecom services or the internet under any circumstances, notwithstanding any other law. Targeted content blocking is dealt with separately under the Cyber Security Act 2026.[1]

Who can authorise phone tapping in Bangladesh?

Under section 97A, interception requires the prior approval of a court or an authority constituted by the government, for state security, public order or serious crime, and must satisfy necessity, proportionality and legality, with temporary approval allowed only in emergencies.[1]

Can a BTRC fine be challenged?

Yes. An aggrieved person may appeal to the appeal authority to be constituted under section 82A or begin arbitration, and arbitrable disputes under the Act, other than offences, may be resolved under the Arbitration Act 2001.[1]