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Though the number of active SIMs has fallen, internet connections have increased both in mobile and broadband segments during the pandemic.

At the beginning of March, active internet connections were a few thousand less than 10 crore and at the end of May, the number crossed 10.21 crore. Market insiders said people are using more internet than before but the use of voice call, which is still the main revenue spinner for the carriers, has declined.

A good number of users are now depending on various communication apps and they are avoiding voice calls, while low-income people do not have enough earnings to spend on services like telecom.

All three private carriers have been impacted though the state-owned operator’s number has remained almost the same, according to the BTRC data.

Grameenphone suffered a severe blow of losing 23 lakh of their active users between January and May; their subscriber base is now 7.43 crore.

Apart from the impact of the pandemic, the market leader has been facing some regulatory challenges since the beginning of the year centring an audit claim by the regulator.

The top player, however, declined to comment on what has taken a toll on their subscriber base.

Robi, the second-largest carrier, witnessed a negative impact on their customer base only in the last couple of months and had 4.80 crore users at the end of May.

As a growing carrier, Robi went very close to five crore subscribers and had taken preparations to celebrate the landmark but lost 17 lakh users in April and May, said Shahed Alam, its chief corporate and regulatory officer.

Like all the other industries, coronavirus has dealt a tremendous blow to the telecom sector.

“This crisis is also widening the digital divide in the country as people have to cut down on mobile phone use or completely stop using phones in many cases.”

On top of that, Alam fears the hike in supplementary duty from 10 per cent to 15 per cent will only exacerbate the situation.

The third carrier Banglalink has been stuck with about three-and-a-half crore users for long.

They have started March with 3.58 crore active connections but after three months 15 lakh users left the network.

“We believe that many potential subscribers could not take our service and many of our current customers had faced difficulties in recharging over the last few months due to the long nationwide lockdown and movement restrictions,” said Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer of Banglalink.

This is the key reason Rahman believes their customer-base has shrunk, he added.

According to the rules set by the regulator, if a SIM is not used for 90 days, it is counted as inactive and if it remains so for consecutive 15 months, the operator can resell it.