How to Call Bangladesh From the US: Complete Guide (+880)

How to Dial Bangladesh From the US

Bangladesh uses the country code +880. With over 200,000 Bangladeshi-Americans in the US — primarily in New York City, Detroit, and Los Angeles — and millions of Bangladeshi workers abroad who stay connected with family, calls to Bangladesh are frequent.

Dialling Format

From a US phone: 011 + 880 + area code (without leading 0) + local number

From a mobile with + dialling: +880 + area code (without leading 0) + local number

💡

Bangladeshi numbers start with 0 locally. Drop the leading 0 when calling from the US. Dhaka is 02 locally, becoming 880 2 from abroad.

Example Calls

Bangladeshi Mobile Carriers

Bangladesh is overwhelmingly a mobile-first country. Over 95% of calls will be to mobile numbers. The major carriers and their prefixes:

Grameenphone (a Telenor subsidiary) dominates the market. If you are not sure of the carrier, numbers starting with 017 are almost certainly Grameenphone.

Cost Comparison

A weekly 30-minute call to Bangladesh at carrier rates costs $300-600/month. BubblyPhone drops that to $1.20/month. Even Google Voice at $0.04/min costs $4.80/month for the same calls.

Best Time to Call Bangladesh

Bangladesh is on Bangladesh Standard Time (BST, UTC+6) year-round. No daylight saving time.

11 hours ahead of ET: 9 AM in New York = 8 PM in Dhaka
14 hours ahead of PT: 9 AM in LA = 11 PM in Dhaka
Best window from ET: 8-10 AM ET = 7-9 PM in Dhaka (evening, people are home)
Best window from PT: 5-7 PM PT = 7-9 AM in Dhaka (morning)

Practical Tips

IMO is king in Bangladesh. While WhatsApp is popular globally, Bangladesh is one of the few countries where the IMO app is more popular for video calls. Many Bangladeshis use IMO daily because it works better on slow connections and cheaper phones.
WhatsApp is growing. WhatsApp adoption is increasing, especially among younger Bangladeshis and in urban areas. Having both IMO and WhatsApp is the safest bet.
Internet quality is improving. 4G coverage in Bangladesh has expanded significantly. Major cities (Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet) have good connectivity. Rural areas can still be patchy.
Flooding season. June through September is monsoon season. Severe flooding can disrupt infrastructure including cell towers, especially in low-lying areas. Call quality may suffer during this period.
Eid is the biggest holiday. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are massive celebrations. Phone networks get congested as millions of people call family. Try calling slightly outside peak hours if calls do not connect.
NYC connection. The largest Bangladeshi-American community is in Jackson Heights, Queens and the surrounding neighborhoods. Local Bangladeshi businesses often sell calling cards, but VoIP services like BubblyPhone are cheaper.

Summary

To call Bangladesh from the US, dial 011 + 880 + area code (without 0) + number. BubblyPhone offers $0.01/min rates. Dhaka is 11 hours ahead of ET — early US mornings catch Bangladeshi evenings. Install IMO alongside WhatsApp, as IMO is the preferred video calling app in Bangladesh.