eSIM for Bangladesh
Land connected in Bangladesh. Pick a plan below - it activates in seconds, no physical SIM, no roaming fees.
Best eSIM plans for Bangladesh
Three travel data plans that suit most trips to Bangladesh, or see the full list of Bangladeshi eSIMs below.
Your Bangladesh eSIM guide
How to install your Bangladesh eSIM in 3 steps
Unlike a physical Bangladesh SIM, which requires a passport, visa, photos and an in-person fingerprint scan at an operator shop, an eSIM skips all of that paperwork entirely.
- Buy your Bangladesh eSIM plan online and receive a QR code by email, no passport details or biometric registration required.
- Scan the QR code from your device's eSIM settings before you fly, so the profile is installed and ready ahead of arrival in Dhaka or Chattogram.
- Land, switch on data roaming for the new eSIM line, and your signal picks up a local Bangladesh network as soon as your plane's wheels touch down.
Coverage in Bangladesh
Four operators serve Bangladesh: Grameenphone, Robi Axiata, Banglalink, and the state-owned Teletalk. All four run nationwide networks that reach cities, district towns, and most rural areas, though coverage strength shifts by region. Dhaka and Chattogram, along with the other divisional cities, have dense, dependable coverage across all four networks, and 4G reaches the great majority of the population overall.
5G has arrived in Bangladesh and is live across the eight divisional cities, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur and Mymensingh, with a second operator also running pilot 5G zones in a few of the largest hubs. Expect 5G to stay concentrated in major urban centres for now rather than blanket the whole country.
Coverage thins out in specific pockets: the Sundarbans mangrove forest in the southeast, the haor wetland districts around Sunamganj, Habiganj and Sylhet, and the hilly, forested Chittagong Hill Tracts around Rangamati and Bandarban all see patchier signal than the lowland cities. In the Hill Tracts specifically, Teletalk and Robi Axiata are often reported to hold up better than the network with the broadest reach elsewhere in the country. Heavy monsoon rain between June and September can also disrupt networks periodically, with flooding and storms occasionally knocking out service for stretches at a time, especially in rural and low-lying areas.
Choosing a data plan for your trip
| Usage level | Typical daily use | Suggested plan |
|---|---|---|
| Light (maps, messaging, occasional browsing) | around 300 MB/day | 1GB / 7 days |
| Moderate (social media, music, some video calls) | around 750 MB/day | 3GB / 30 days or 10GB / 30 days |
| Heavy (streaming, navigation-heavy days, hotspot use) | 1.5 GB/day or more | 20GB / 30 days |
eSIM vs roaming vs local SIM in Bangladesh
| eSIM | Home carrier roaming | Local physical SIM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration | Online purchase, no passport or biometrics needed | None, uses your existing plan | Passport, visa, photos and an in-person fingerprint scan required |
| Setup time | Minutes, can be done before you fly | Automatic on arrival | Requires a shop visit and in-person processing |
| Typical cost | From £0.89, £1.25 for the cheapest 1GB option | Often £9 or more per day, or well over £1,479 per gigabyte pay-as-you-go | Generally inexpensive once purchased, but time and paperwork add friction |
| Best for | Most visitors wanting fast, hassle-free data | Only very short trips where cost isn't a concern | Longer stays where you're settling in and want a long-term local number |
Practical connectivity tips
Keep your Bangladesh eSIM plan sized for where you're headed. If your route sticks to Dhaka, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar, coverage is generally strong and consistent, but if the Sundarbans, the haor wetlands, or the Chittagong Hill Tracts are on your itinerary, expect weaker or intermittent signal and download offline maps in advance. During the June to September monsoon, build in some tolerance for occasional outages tied to heavy rain and flooding, particularly outside the main cities.
Save Bangladesh's unified emergency number, 999, which covers police, fire and ambulance, and note the separate Tourist Police line if you're travelling as a visitor. If you'll be in the country for weeks rather than days, weigh whether a local physical SIM makes more sense once you've settled somewhere, since it carries its own passport and biometric registration step at a shop but can work out cheaper for very long stays. For most trips, an eSIM installed before departure remains the simplest way to land already connected.
Travelling beyond Bangladesh?
- India eSIM - for onward trips to Kolkata, Delhi or beyond the border
- Nepal eSIM - connectivity for the Himalayas and Kathmandu
- Bhutan eSIM - stay online in the Himalayan kingdom
- Sri Lanka eSIM - data for the island's beaches and hill country
All Bangladeshi eSIM data plans
11 plans from £0.89. Prices include VAT, shown in GBP.
Not sure how much data you need?
Tell us your trip length and how you'll use your phone, and we'll point you to the right plan.
Local info for Bangladesh
Top destinations in Bangladesh
Explore the best Bangladeshi destinations and stay connected.
Frequently asked questions about eSIMs for Bangladesh
Do I need to register my Bangladesh eSIM with my passport, like a physical SIM?
No. Physical SIM registration in Bangladesh requires a valid passport and visa, passport-sized photos and an in-person biometric fingerprint scan at an operator shop, which foreigners must complete in person. An eSIM follows a separate track: you buy and activate it online, with no passport registration or fingerprint scan required, and you can often get it running before you even land.
Will my eSIM get signal in the Sundarbans mangrove forest?
Coverage in the Sundarbans is noticeably sparser and less reliable than in Dhaka or Cox's Bazar, since the region's dense mangrove terrain limits network infrastructure. If a Sundarbans trip is part of your itinerary, download offline maps and any essential information in advance and treat connectivity there as a bonus rather than a given.
How reliable is eSIM coverage in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, around Rangamati and Bandarban?
Coverage in the hilly, forested Chittagong Hill Tracts is patchier than in the lowlands generally. Interestingly, travellers and locals in Rangamati and Bandarban often find Teletalk and Robi Axiata perform better here than the operator with the widest national footprint elsewhere, so a plan that can fall back across multiple networks is useful in this region.
Can monsoon season disrupt my eSIM connection in Bangladesh?
Yes. Bangladesh's monsoon season, roughly June through September, brings heavy flooding that can periodically knock out mobile networks, with some areas experiencing extended outages during the worst storms. Rural and low-lying districts are more exposed than Dhaka or Chattogram, so build in some slack if you're travelling during the rainy months.
Is 5G available if I use an eSIM in Bangladesh?
5G service has gone live in Bangladesh, with coverage rolled out across the eight divisional cities including Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and Rajshahi, plus pilot zones from a second operator in a few major hubs. Whether your eSIM plan uses 5G depends on your device and the local network your eSIM connects to at any given moment, since availability is still concentrated in bigger cities rather than nationwide.
How much data do I need for a trip covering Dhaka, Cox's Bazar and Sylhet?
It depends on how you travel. Light users sticking to maps, messaging and social media check-ins across these three destinations typically get by on a smaller plan, while anyone streaming video, video-calling home or navigating constantly should size up. See the data-needs table above for how usage levels map to specific plan sizes.
What's the emergency number to know while travelling around Bangladesh?
Bangladesh has a single unified emergency number, 999, which is toll-free and covers police, fire and ambulance around the clock. There's also a dedicated Tourist Police line for visitor-specific issues, which is worth saving separately if you're travelling as a tourist.
Why do local Bangladesh SIMs need a fingerprint scan but eSIMs don't?
Bangladesh runs two separate regulatory tracks for mobile connections. Physical SIMs are tied to strict anti-fraud rules requiring passport verification and a biometric fingerprint scan at the point of sale, in person. eSIMs sit outside that framework, so they can be purchased and activated remotely, with no biometric step and no shop visit needed.
Does Grameenphone's rural network history mean better village coverage today?
Grameenphone ran an early rural connectivity programme in the late 1990s and early 2000s that helped establish mobile access patterns in villages across Bangladesh, and much of that groundwork underpins the network reach you'll find in smaller towns today. That said, coverage in remote pockets like the Hill Tracts or haor wetland districts can still lag behind the cities.
Is Cox's Bazar well covered for using an eSIM by the beach?
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh's long stretch of coastline and a major domestic tourist destination, generally has solid mobile coverage suitable for maps, messaging and streaming. It's a more dependable connectivity spot than remote areas like the Sundarbans or the deeper Hill Tracts, making it an easy stop to stay connected on.
The connectivity details on this page (networks, coverage, local SIM rules, prices and any numbers) are provided for general guidance and can change. Please confirm current details, especially emergency numbers and registration requirements, with official local sources before you travel.