Bangladesh's mobile phone and internet networks are at risk of widespread collapse following fuel and electricity shortages triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the country's mobile operators warned on Monday, April 20.

The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) wrote to the country's telecommunications regulator warning that dwindling electricity supplies and critically low fuel reserves were threatening the operation of mobile base stations across the country. "At this point, the situation has deteriorated to a point beyond operators' control," the association wrote, adding that "if these conditions persist, we must be prepared for a risk of large-scale network shutdown across a significant part of the territory." Mohammad Zulfikar, the association's secretary general, told AFP that a partial or complete failure could interrupt calls, text messages, internet access, and all other related services.

Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of approximately 170 million people, imports around 95% of its oil and gas, predominantly from Gulf states in the Middle East. Supplies have been severely disrupted since the outbreak of conflict between Iran, the United States, and Israel nearly two months ago, leaving the country in the grip of an acute energy crisis. Long queues have formed at petrol stations across the capital Dhaka, with some drivers waiting up to 12 hours to fill their tanks — a situation that continued even through the night on Monday.

The government has already introduced a series of emergency measures to manage dwindling reserves. These include fuel rationing, successive rounds of price increases for diesel, petrol, and kerosene — the latest of which came into effect last Saturday — and reduced opening hours for offices and businesses. Since April 9, a portion of school lessons has been moved online to cut energy consumption, while earlier in the month working hours for government offices and commercial premises were curtailed.

The warnings from telecoms operators underline how the energy crisis is spreading beyond transport and industry into critical communications infrastructure. For a densely populated lower-middle-income country like Bangladesh, a major disruption to mobile and internet networks would affect not only everyday communication but also banking, emergency services, and the growing digital economy on which millions of people depend.