Before you start

Passport with a valid Bangladeshi visa
Physical presence at an operator's customer care centre for biometric capture
An unlocked handset
A Khulna address, for fixed broadband

Step-by-step

1
Register at an operator's own customer care centre
Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Teletalk run proper centres in central Khulna. Foreign passport registration is not something a small retailer can process, and in a smaller city the number of counters that can do it is limited — go to the operator directly.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Expect biometric capture and know the two-SIM passport ceiling
BTRC's framework caps registrations against a passport, driving licence or birth certificate at two, against a much higher figure for a Bangladeshi national ID. The commission has been tightening the NID ceiling too, so confirm the current numbers at the counter rather than trusting a published figure.
In personWho: You
3
Carry two networks if you do field work
Coverage across the coastal upazilas is patchy and operator-dependent, and it effectively ends inside the Sundarbans. A second SIM on a different network — within your two-SIM allowance — is the standard local answer, and it is worth spending one of your two on redundancy rather than on a separate personal line.
In personWho: You
4
Set up bKash or Nagad immediately after the SIM
Mobile financial services are tied to the SIM and carry more of daily life in a smaller city than in Dhaka, where card acceptance is better. Easy-bike fares, utility bills, household staff and small merchants all run through them.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1–2
5
Ask which fixed broadband provider serves the building, and confirm with them
Bangladesh's ISP market is fragmented and coverage is building-by-building, and the choice is narrower here than in the big cities. Get a named provider from the landlord and confirm directly, particularly if you work from home.
OnlineWho: YouBefore signing a lease
6
Plan for outages, and for cyclone-season outages specifically
Load shedding still occurs at summer peak demand, and a cyclone takes power and towers down across the division for days. A UPS on the router, a power bank and a charged hotspot are standard equipment here, and in May they stop being optional.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with valid visa
Fingerprints, captured at the counter
Proof of Khulna address, for fixed broadband

Things most newcomers don’t know

Two SIMs is the ceiling against a passport — and in Khulna you should spend one of them on a second network.

BTRC caps registrations against a passport, driving licence or birth certificate at two, against a much higher figure for a Bangladeshi national ID. In Dhaka people use the second SIM for a personal line. Here the better use is a different operator, because coverage across the coastal upazilas is genuinely operator-dependent and drops away entirely inside the Sundarbans. If your work takes you into the delta, redundancy beats convenience — and you only get two.

Source: Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

The SIM gates mobile money, and mobile money matters more here than in the capital.

bKash and Nagad registration is tied to the mobile number and the identity document behind it. In a city where card acceptance is thinner and the easy-bike economy runs on small transfers, mobile money is not a convenience but the main way you pay for things. That makes the SIM the true first errand on arrival — before the bank account.

Source: community-reported

Cyclone season is a telecoms event as well as a weather one.

A landfall in this division takes down power and mobile towers across whole upazilas for days at a time, which is when you most need to reach people. The local habit is redundancy: a power bank, a UPS on the router, a charged hotspot and a second network. That is not over-preparation here, and Remal in May 2024 is the reason people do it.

Source: community-reported

Registration is biometric and there is no anonymous SIM.

BTRC runs a central biometric verification platform and SIMs are bound to an identity document at activation. Buying a pre-registered SIM from a shop means using a number registered to someone else, which is unlawful and a real problem if anything happens on that number — including that you cannot then register mobile financial services in your own name against it.

Source: Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

Common mistakes to avoid

Using both passport SIM slots on the same network in a division where coverage is operator-dependent.
Assuming you can hold as many SIMs as a Bangladeshi colleague.
Going into the Sundarbans expecting any signal at all.
Signing a lease without a named broadband provider and confirmed capacity.
Having no power bank or UPS going into cyclone season.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.