How do you get a mobile phone number in Bangladesh in 2026?

Go to a branded Grameenphone Centre, GP Experience Centre, Robi, or Banglalink outlet in Dhaka or the city where you will stay. Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (DAC) sometimes keeps operator counters, but city centres usually finish registration more calmly. Take your physical passport, a valid Bangladesh visa or entry stamp, and a local address such as your hotel name. Staff typically copy documents and run biometric fingerprint checks before the line activates.

Grameenphone publishes Tourist SIM bundles aimed at foreign visitors: Basic at BDT 999 for seven days, Standard at BDT 1,499 for fifteen days, and Premium at BDT 1,999 for thirty days, inclusive of VAT or tax on the offer page. Useful-information pages also list passport-and-visa purchase, physical or eSIM options at many GP Centres, and automatic recycle rules after about thirty days from activation. If your visa ends sooner than the bundle, the connection can deactivate with the visa. Robi and Banglalink sell prepaid tourist and city packs too; confirm foreigner steps and current allowances at the desk before you pay.

English often works at major Dhaka counters, yet Bangla still appears on forms and USSD menus: English in Bangladesh and Learn Bangla.

Start on prepaid in taka. Top up through operator apps, MyGP, electronic recharge, or branch credit. Tourist lines follow the stay window the shop copied. Ask how long the pack stays active and renew only through the same operator. A line registered to you can be recharged. A line registered to a stranger can be cut without warning.

Grameenphone sells eSIM products, including tourist eSIM at participating centres, but identity and biometric steps still apply. Do not assume a digital QR skips passport registration. Budget the first pack inside your month, not as a surprise: Monthly budget and How expensive is Bangladesh.

Landing late, or landing when the arrivals counter is shut, leaves you without a Bangladeshi number for the ride into Gulshan, Banani, or old Dhaka. If you want data before a Bangladeshi prepaid SIM is registered, an eSIM for the first days covers the airport and the trip to a branded centre.

That travel eSIM is not your Bangladeshi mobile number. It will not replace the local line apps and offices prefer once you settle. Use it until the shop finishes registration, then keep the Bangladeshi SIM in the phone. Neighbourhood choice still shapes coverage and shop hours: Where to live in Bangladesh and Dhaka cost of living.