Internet disruption mars BNP’s grand rally

Staff Reporter :
People from all walks of life, including on duty journalists, were subjected to severe inconvenience on Friday as they had to face internet disruption during BNP’s grand rally at Nayapaltan of the capital Dhaka.

The disruption was experienced in a vast area covering Kakrail Mosque intersection, Ramna Park, Hare Road, Fakirapool, Arambagh, Moghbazar and entire Nayapaltan.

Though the netizens were able to talk on the mobile, but everyone have to suffer extremely while using the internet.As a result, journalists were the worst sufferers while doing professional work.

Many journalists were seen collecting news on the spot and sending it to their respective offices from outside and many of them alleged that they could not perform live from the scene.

Many people of the areas have alleged that the government has used the state-run agency BTRC to suppress the voice of the opposition by shutting down the internet service in particular zones surrounding BNP grand rally.

But conversely, there were no such internet disruption in surrounding areas of the south gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque where the ruling party Awami League held their peace rally. The venue of the AL meeting is just about one kilometer away from BNP’s programme venue.

Many mobile internet users near BNP’s grand rally in the capital’s Nayapaltan are facing connectivity issues.

On Thursday, when asked about the issue, DMP Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq stated, “To the best of my knowledge, no mobile tower has been turned off anywhere. However, if a tower’s capacity is designed to handle 10,000 users and 10 lakh people attempt to connect simultaneously, it may experience slowdowns.”

As I heard there is no instruction or directives from BTRC or any other agency regarding this issue, he added.

The BTRC earlier said, mobile internet and voice services get interrupted in areas with large numbers of users.