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Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) cancelled licences of 228 internet service providers (ISPs) for not converting their licences in due time.
Of the total, four ISPs were nationwide licence holders, 38 were zonal ISPs, and the rest were ISPs of A, B and C categories.
In a recent circular, BTRC asked the cancelled licensees to surrender their licences to the commission in 10 days.
BTRC, for public concern, declared all activities of these ISPs fully illegal and also cautioned that it would take legal measures as per the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001, if these ISPs get engaged in any activities further.
The regulator urged everyone not to make any legal or financial deals with these ISPs.
BTRC also directed all international internet gateway (IGW) operators not to provide bandwidth to these ISPs.
Last year, BTRC scrapped the licences of 300 ISPs for failing to respond to the telecom regulator's queries regarding their licence conversion.
According to the regulatory and licensing guidelines for the ISPs, published in December 2020, the ISPs had to convert their existing licences to four new categories by December 2021.
But many ISPs have not yet converted their licences.
An Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) official said the regulatory action was duly taken against (the ISPs') ignorance and negligence.
"The regulator has given enough time, so the association has nothing to say in this regard," he added.
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