The number of new mobile phone connections rose 11.11 percent year-on-year in 2015, while internet subscriptions grew 24.01 percent, the telecom regulator said in a report yesterday.

All six mobile phone operators added 1.34 crore new connections in the year, and termed the growth moderate. At the end of the year, the number of active connections stood at 13.37 crore.

Some 1.05 crore new clients took internet connections in the year, most of them through mobile phones, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Bangladesh's total active internet connections stood at 5.41 crore at the end of the year, and 5.15 crore of those were on mobiles, BTRC said.

Both mobile operators and the telecom regulator have expressed satisfaction over last year's growth, and expect it to be higher in the future.

"The growth is moderate and as the regulator we are pleased with it," said Md Sarwar Alam, spokesperson of BTRC. The sector's performance was very well last year, compared to the previous years, which will contribute to creating a digital economy, Alam said.

In 2014, the industry added 65.66 lakh new subscribers with 5.77 percent growth, and some 78.52 lakh new internet connections, registering 21.52 percent growth.

The regulator did not mention the number of 3G subscribers the operators added last year.

Robi, the third largest mobile operator, said the trend of using 'alternative SIM' intensified in 2015. 

"Significant growth in digital space and innovation contributed to the increase in subscribers, as the industry worked to minimise the digital divide and increase rural penetration," said Ekram Kabir, vice president for communications and corporate responsibility at Robi.

Robi invested significantly last year, which also boosted its performance, he said. The company added 30.28 lakh new connections to reach 2.83 crore, with 11.97 percent subscription growth. But in terms of new acquisitions, market leader Grameenphone beat the competitors to grab the highest 51.75 lakh new connections, though its growth was 10.05 percent.

Grameenphone had 5.67 crore active connections at the end of December, BTRC report said.

Airtel, the fourth largest operator, grew a stunning 42.71 percent, to add 32.05 lakh new customers to their network in 2015, and crossed the one-crore customer landmark. It now has 1.07 crore active connections.

Banglalink saw 6.36 percent growth last year, with just 19.65 lakh new connections. Its total number of subscribers reached 3.29 crore. State-owned Teletalk witnessed 7.33 percent growth in 2015, with 2.83 lakh new clients, to reach a total of 41.43 lakh by the yearend.

Citycell suffered 22.12 percent negative growth, losing 2.86 lakh customers, to reach 10.07 lakh.

The industry added 1.66 crore new SIMs in 2013, while in 2012 there were 1.17 crore new users. In 2011, the six mobile operators added 1.68 crore customers, and in 2010 they sold 1.62 crore new connections.

Though the regulator's numbers show some 5.41 crore internet users by the yearend, a World Bank report last week said about 148 million people of Bangladesh are yet to connect to the internet, and the country has the fifth largest offline population in the world.

However, the government defended the BTRC data and criticised the World Bank report.