Shahjahan Mahmood

Mahmood completed his undergraduate studies in engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.^[5] He completed his master's degree in operation research and PhD in systems engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[5]

Mahmood was a systems engineer at Marine Corps Base Quantico and later at Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center from 2004 to 2012.^[5][6]

On 24 September 2015, Mahmood was appointed chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission replacing Sunil Kanti Bose.^[7] Initially Iqbal Mahmood was appointed chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission but that decision was cancelled within a week and was replaced by Shahjahan Mahmood.^[8] He briefly blocked Facebook, Viber, and WhatsApp in Bangladesh.^[9]

In March 2017, Mahmood announced he was ready to shut down Facebook in Bangladesh if instructed by the government.^[10] He recommended that the government terminate Golam Razzaque, director of Bangabandhu-1 satellite, which the government did.^[11] He left the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in 2018 and was replaced by Md Jahirul Haque.^[12]

As chairman of the Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited, Mahmood oversaw the launch of Bangabandhu-1, the first satellite of Bangladesh.^[13]