If you are landing in Dhaka to work remotely, here is the short version. Buy a Grameenphone tourist SIM for anything longer than a few days — it has the widest, most reliable coverage in Bangladesh by a clear margin, and its 40GB / 30-day tourist package costs roughly 600 BDT (about US$5), which is absurdly good value. But you cannot get it the moment you step off the plane without your passport and a fingerprint scan, so for the first jet-lagged day — or a trip under a week — install a [Saily](https://saily.com) eSIM before you fly and land already online.
That two-part answer matters here more than in most countries, because Bangladesh has a genuinely inconvenient SIM-registration regime and a network where the gap between the best carrier and the rest is large. Get the pairing right and you will barely think about connectivity. Get it wrong and you will spend your first working morning in a queue with a form you cannot read.
The carriers, honestly ranked
Bangladesh has four mobile operators, and for a remote worker they are not close to interchangeable.
Grameenphone (GP) is the incumbent and the largest network by a wide margin. It consistently tops Opensignal's Bangladesh network-experience reports, winning the majority of categories, and its coverage reaches not just Dhaka and Chattogram but highways, smaller towns, and rural areas where the others thin out fast. If you plan to work from Sylhet's tea country, Cox's Bazar, or anywhere outside the two big cities, GP is the only carrier I would trust to hold a video call.
Robi (which absorbed Airtel's Bangladesh operation) is a solid second. In Dhaka and Chattogram its 4G is competitive, and it was first to market alongside GP on 5G. Coverage upcountry is weaker than GP but perfectly usable in populated areas. It is the network most travel eSIMs actually run on, which becomes relevant below.
Banglalink is the value play. Its data packages are the cheapest headline prices in the country, and in the cities the network is fine. Outside urban centres it drops off noticeably. Good as a cheap second SIM, not as your only lifeline.
Teletalk is the state-owned operator. The SIM is the cheapest to buy, but coverage and speeds are the weakest of the four and it is not worth your time as a visitor.
One reality check that applies to every carrier: independent testing (including the national regulator, the BTRC) has repeatedly found real-world 4G speeds in Dhaka running below advertised levels during peak congestion. 5G exists in pockets of Dhaka and Chattogram but is not something to plan your workday around in 2026. Expect reliable-but-not-blazing 4G — generally enough for calls, uploads, and hotspotting a laptop, but keep expectations grounded.
Comparison table (real 2026 values)
| Option | Sample plan / price | Data | Coverage | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grameenphone tourist SIM | ~600 BDT (~US$5) incl. SIM | 40GB + calls, 30 days | Best nationwide, incl. rural | Airport counters, GP Centres |
| Grameenphone shorter option | ~400 BDT (~US$3.40) | 20GB, 15 days | Best nationwide | Airport counters, GP Centres |
| Robi prepaid | ~300–500 BDT | 20–30GB, ~30 days | Strong in cities, good upcountry | Airport, Robi shops |
| Banglalink prepaid | 298 BDT (~US$2.50) | 20GB + 300 min, 20 days | Good in cities, weaker rural | Airport, shops, kiosks |
| Banglalink big bundle | 998 BDT (~US$8.50) | 60GB + 1500 min, 30 days | Good in cities | Shops |
| Teletalk | SIM from 150 BDT | Small bundles | Weakest of the four | Teletalk outlets |
| [Saily](https://saily.com) eSIM | from ~US$4 (3GB ~US$6) | 1–20GB, 1–30 days | Runs on Robi/Banglalink | App, before you fly |
| Airalo eSIM | US$4.50 (1GB/7d) to US$32 (20GB/30d) | 1–20GB, 7–30 days | Runs on Banglalink/Robi | App, before you fly |
The pattern jumps out immediately: local SIMs give you five to ten times more data per dollar than any travel eSIM, and GP gives you coverage no eSIM can match. Travel eSIMs win on exactly one axis — you can have them working before you clear customs.
Arrival connectivity: land already online
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (DAC) in Dhaka is where most visitors arrive, and there are carrier counters in the arrivals hall after you clear customs and baggage — Grameenphone's booth typically sits opposite the exit, is usually staffed around the clock, and takes cash or card. Chattogram and Sylhet airports also have kiosks. So in principle you can grab a local SIM on arrival.
In practice, three things go wrong on day one. Counters keep their own hours and staffing, so a late-night or holiday arrival can mean no one is there. The registration process (below) takes time and sometimes a supervisor. And you are tired, possibly without local cash yet, trying to compare packages you cannot fully read. That is a bad time to be making your only connectivity decision.
This is where an eSIM you activated at home earns its price premium. Install a [Saily](https://saily.com) plan before you leave, and your phone connects automatically as you taxi to the gate — maps, ride-hailing, and messages all work while you walk to immigration. A 3GB / 30-day plan runs around US$6, and while that is expensive per gigabyte next to a GP SIM, it buys you a stress-free first 24–48 hours. Airalo is a reasonable alternative if you already use it, priced similarly for the small plans.
One honest caveat specific to Bangladesh: travel eSIMs here ride the Robi and Banglalink networks, not Grameenphone. In Dhaka that is fine. But it means an eSIM alone will not give you GP's upcountry reach — another reason to treat the eSIM as your arrival bridge, not your whole trip.
For a longer stay: the Grameenphone tourist SIM
Once you are settled and have your passport handy, get a GP tourist SIM. The value is genuinely excellent — 40GB with calls and texts for 30 days at roughly US$5, on the best network in the country. For a month of remote work that is more than most people burn through, especially if your accommodation has Wi-Fi and the SIM is mainly for calls, maps, and hotspot backup.
Here is the part the glossy guides gloss over. Bangladesh requires biometric SIM registration. For a foreigner that means presenting your passport and, at an authorised counter, giving a fingerprint scan tied to your SIM. Legitimate tourist SIMs are registered against your passport and stay active for the duration of your visa, up to a maximum of six months. This is why you should buy from an official airport counter or a proper GP Centre — not a random street kiosk or a "pre-registered" SIM sold under someone else's identity. An improperly registered SIM can be deactivated without warning, which is the last thing you want mid-project. Bring your passport, expect the fingerprint step, and you will be fine.
If GP is sold out of tourist packs or the queue is brutal, Robi is the acceptable fallback for city-based work. Skip Teletalk, and treat Banglalink as a cheap top-up SIM rather than your primary line.
The elephant in the room: connectivity is not guaranteed
Any honest Bangladesh guide for remote workers has to say this: the country has experienced government-ordered internet slowdowns and, on occasion, near-total shutdowns during periods of political unrest in recent years. No SIM or eSIM protects you from a nationwide blackout — when the state throttles mobile data, every carrier goes down together.
The practical takeaways: do not schedule anything mission-critical without a buffer, keep offline copies of what you need, and if you are staying a while consider a fixed broadband line at your accommodation and a power bank, since outages and load-shedding can coincide. A second SIM on a different network helps with ordinary congestion but not with a policy-level shutdown. This is a real consideration for anyone whose income depends on being reachable.
Quick decision guide
- Trip under a week, or you just want to land online: a [Saily](https://saily.com) eSIM (or Airalo). Activate before you fly. Skip the queue entirely.
- Staying two weeks or more, or working outside Dhaka: a Grameenphone tourist SIM from an airport counter or GP Centre. Bring your passport for biometric registration.
- Best of both: land on the Saily eSIM, then pick up a GP SIM once you have your bearings and your passport in hand. Keep the eSIM as a same-phone backup.
- City-only and budget-focused: Banglalink's 60GB / 30-day bundle at ~US$8.50 is hard to beat on price.
- Whatever you choose: assume occasional congestion, keep a Wi-Fi fallback, and never depend on a single connection for critical work.
The bottom line for Bangladesh: the local SIM math is overwhelmingly in your favour, and Grameenphone is the network worth the small hassle of registration. But the registration hassle and the risk of a tired, counterless arrival are exactly what a pre-installed [Saily](https://saily.com) eSIM erases. Use the eSIM to arrive calm and connected; use a GP SIM to work cheaply and reliably for the rest of your stay.