State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Wednesday hoped that mobile internet would be restored by next Sunday or Monday.
Besides, the household broadband user's internet connections would be restored by Wednesday midnight (Thursday), he said while addressing a press conference after a meeting with internet service providers at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) auditorium in the capital.
The state minister said that the limited broadband service would not nr available for social media. Social media would remain restricted now.
"The internet services across the country was interrupted by fire set by miscreants. We are working relentless to restore the entire internet services. Initially, the broadband internet service was restored in a limited scale. Complete broadband service will be restored on Wednesday midnight. Hope, the mobile internet services will also be restored on Sunday or Monday," he added.
Mobile internet, which has nearly 12.7 crore connections in the country, was shut down on July 18 midnight. At around 9:00pm on the same day, broadband service was also disconnected, leaving the country detached from the cyber world due to fire set by the miscreants at the Data Centre at Mahakhali.
The government blamed terrorist attacks of Thursday and Friday on critical infrastructures including internet connectivity for the blackout.
Following urgent repairs, broadband internet restoration began experimentally for users deemed crucial for the economy from Tuesday.
According to Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), around 40 per cent of over 1.1 crore broadband internet connections across the country were restored by 1.00pm on Wednesday.
Households were least prioritised initially and will be reconnected tonight as per the state minister's announcement.
However, slow speed remained a problem for the users and the service providers and the government assured of a gradual improvement.
The firms and families had been struggling to use the internet smoothly due to slow speed and the data-hungry commercial activities were yet to be normal until 1:00pm on Wednesday.
ISPAB President Md Emdadul Hoque told media all the government offices, emergency services, hospitals across the country got back broadband internet service.
