Bangladesh eSIM

Data for Bangladesh on Grameenphone and Robi, from $6.89. It never expires, tethering is included, and refills land on the line you already have, with nothing new to install.

Networks: Grameenphone and Robi
Typical speed: 28 Mbps typical, 6 Mbps at busy times
5G: 4G only
Throttle: None on metered plans
Tethering: Allowed on every plan

An Orbislo eSIM for Bangladesh starts at $0.51 for 500 MB and runs on Grameenphone and Robi. Typical download speed is 28 Mbps, fine for maps and messaging, tight for video. Install the line for Bangladesh in one tap before you fly, turn on data roaming when you land, and the data never expires.

Plans for Bangladesh

Data plans for Bangladesh
Data	Validity	Price per GB	Price
1 GB	Never expires	$6.89	$6.89
3 GB	Never expires	$3.63	$10.89
5 GBMost travellers	Never expires	$2.98	$14.89
10 GB	Never expires	$2.29	$22.89
20 GB	Never expires	$1.84	$36.89

Every plan works the moment you land. Unused data returns to your wallet when the line closes, and customers get at least 100 MB of free rescue data a month even at zero balance.

What 28 Mbps actually means in Bangladesh

Typical download speed on Orbislo in Bangladesh: 28 Mbps. That is below the Asia median of 43.9 Mbps, so plan around it rather than being surprised by it.

The tenth percentile is 6 Mbps. That gap between the median and the floor is normal and it is where the frustration lives: the connection is quick most of the time and noticeably slow in the busiest few percent of moments, typically at transport hubs at peak hour.

Maps, messaging, ride hailing and payment apps all work without complaint. Video calls connect but will drop resolution, and streaming is better set to standard definition than left on automatic. Tethering a laptop works for email and documents rather than for calls.

Which networks you will be on

Orbislo carries traffic in Bangladesh on Grameenphone and Robi. Your phone is not tied to one of them. When the network you are attached to congests or drops, the profile moves you to the other, and it happens without a prompt and without you noticing anything except that the connection kept working.

This matters more than the headline speed. Almost every travel eSIM sold today resells a single upstream agreement per country, so when that one network has a bad hour you have a bad hour with it and your only option is to buy a second eSIM from somebody else. A profile with more than one network behind it can make a decision you never see.

5G in Bangladesh: 4G only. A well provisioned 4G cell comfortably outruns a congested 5G one, which is why the figure above is throughput rather than a network generation.

A single carrier provider cannot make this move.

What data costs in Bangladesh

A 500 MB plan for Bangladesh starts at $0.51, which is $0.00 a gigabyte. That is the number to compare between providers, because a headline price attached to a different allowance tells you nothing.

The comparison most providers would rather you did not run is cost per gigabyte actually used. Independent surveys of travel data put the share of purchased data lost to expiry between 20 and 35 percent, because a plan that expires on day thirty deletes what you did not get through. Orbislo data has no expiry date, so the gigabyte you paid for is still there on the next trip. At the same headline price that is 25 to 40 percent more usable data, and in Bangladesh it means the effective cost is nearer $0.00 a gigabyte than $0.00.

Because nothing expires, the cheapest way to buy for Bangladesh is to buy slightly less than you think you need and top up if you run out. Topping up takes about ten seconds and does not involve installing anything. Buying too much is the expensive mistake everywhere else and merely a neutral one here.

Landing in Bangladesh

Install before you fly, on your home wifi. The profile downloads while you still have a connection you trust, then sits dormant until you land in Bangladesh and it attaches to Grameenphone.

On landing there is one thing to check: data roaming has to be switched on for the Orbislo line. It is off by default on both iOS and Android, and it has nothing to do with roaming charges here, because the plan is prepaid and there is no bill to run up. Turn it on for the Orbislo line and leave it off for your home line, and your home number keeps working for calls and bank codes without costing anything.

What is restricted in Bangladesh

Foreign phones on a local SIM: Bangladesh's device register tells foreign visitors to register their phone through its special registration process if they intend to use it with a local SIM for more than 30 days. Passport, visa, entry stamp and a foreign purchase invoice are among the documents it can ask for.
Tourist SIM: Grameenphone's Tourist SIM is sold only against a valid passport and visa, at more than 40 of its service centres and experience centres, as a physical SIM or an eSIM. The SIM itself is free.
Tourist SIM limits: A Grameenphone Tourist SIM can only carry the tourist bundle, with no other data, minute or combo packs, and it cannot be converted into an ordinary Grameenphone SIM.
VPNs: During the July and August 2024 shutdowns Bangladeshi authorities also blocked VPN services, including ProtonVPN, NordVPN and TunnelBear, which made it harder to get around the restrictions, especially between 31 July and 5 August.

Worth knowing about Bangladesh

The standing of a handset can be checked before it is relied on by texting KYD, a space and the fifteen digit IMEI to 16002, which answers by SMS with whether the device is valid.
Dialling *16001# from a Bangladeshi number and entering the last four digits of the national ID returns an SMS listing every mobile number registered against that identity, across all operators.
A dual SIM handset carries a separate IMEI for each SIM slot in Bangladesh, and the register treats them separately, so each one has to be checked on its own before the phone is trusted.
A handset that comes back as not registered in Bangladesh can be put right through a device registration request on the register's portal, which the regulator reviews and answers by SMS.
Bangladesh's single emergency number is 999, which covers ambulance, fire and police, according to the UK government's travel advice.
A Grameenphone Tourist SIM is recycled automatically 30 days after activation. If the visa expires before that, the SIM is switched off right after the visa expiry date.
Bangladesh's National Equipment Identity Register went fully live on 1 January 2026, and every phone already active on a network at that point was registered automatically.
Between 15 July and 5 August 2024 Bangladesh went through two full national internet blackouts, from 18 to 23 July and on 5 August, plus throttling and blocking of social media and messaging apps. It was the longest shutdown in the country's history.
Grameenphone said it was told to shut down its 3G and 4G networks from 17 July 2024, which left its customers with 2G service limited to voice calls and SMS.
In December 2025 Bangladesh's Advisory Council approved an ordinance amending the telecommunication law, after which the government can no longer shut down internet services by exercising executive authority.

How Bangladesh compares across Asia

Regional typical speed: 42.95 Mbps
Upstream networks: 2, Grameenphone, Robi
5G: 4G only
Next fastest nearby: Kyrgyzstan, 33 Mbps
Next slowest nearby: Sri Lanka, 27 Mbps
Cities with their own page: 1: Dhaka

Cities in Bangladesh

Dhaka

Questions about Bangladesh

Will my phone work in Bangladesh?

If it supports eSIM and is not carrier locked, yes. We check your exact model before you pay and tell you plainly if it will not work, rather than taking the money and leaving you to find out on arrival.

Which network will I be on in Bangladesh?

Grameenphone or Robi. Orbislo moves you to whichever is performing better where you are standing, without asking you and without you noticing.

How fast is the data really?

Typical download speed is 28 Mbps, and 6 Mbps when the network is busy. The busy figure is the one to plan around: it is what you can expect when the cell is crowded.

Does the data expire?

No. There is no validity window on wallet gigabytes, and anything left over from a country pack returns to your wallet when the pack ends. This is the single largest difference between what you pay here and what you pay elsewhere.

Can I keep my normal phone number in Bangladesh?

Yes. The Orbislo profile is a second line, so your home number stays active for calls and texts on its own line. Turn data roaming off for the home line and on for Orbislo, and set up wifi calling before you fly so bank codes still reach you.

Can I tether a laptop?

Yes, on every plan, at the same allowance as your phone data and at no extra cost. At 28 Mbps expect a tethered laptop in Bangladesh to be fine for email and documents and strained by video calls.

What if I run out of data in Bangladesh?

Customers, meaning anyone who bought from Orbislo in the last 12 months or holds a subscription, get at least 100 MB of free rescue data once a calendar month, loaded onto the line they are using in Bangladesh when the balance runs out. It exists so you are never in the position of needing data in order to buy data. Topping up takes about ten seconds and installs nothing.

Is Orbislo cheaper than the alternatives in Bangladesh?

At $0.00 a gigabyte, the number that matters is what the data you actually use costs you. Expiry destroys 20 to 35 percent of a pack elsewhere. Ours never expires, so on cost per gigabyte used we are ahead almost everywhere.

More of Asia

Afghanistan19 Mbps typical$17.89500 MB Brunei58 Mbps typical$12.89500 MB Bhutan$11.891 GB China41 Mbps typical$5.89100 MB Hong Kong92 Mbps typical$5.89100 MB Indonesia38 Mbps typical$5.89100 MB

Asia regional plan Bangladesh coverage See all destinations