Govt calls re-tender after protest from ISPs

The country’s internet service providers (ISPs) are likely to get an opportunity to join a bidding war and win to provide broadband internet to 39,702 government primary schools.

In a letter to Primary Education Directorate, the Primary and Mass Education Ministry has recently directed the authorities concerned to review the previous tender worth Tk 200 crore after facing protests from ISPs.

The tender had stipulated that only mobile phone operators would be eligible to participate in the bidding. But ISPs have demanded amending the conditions to allow them to participate.

In the letter, the ministry said the previous tender for providing internet service under the PEDP4 project in 39,701 government primary schools has been cancelled and an open re-tender has been asked to call following the demand from the ISPs.

“We have been demanding the opportunity to join the bidding war according to the rules and wrote to the ministry objecting conditions in the tender that barred s the ISPs from taking part,” Md Emdadul Hoque, the president of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), told The Business Post on Sunday.

“The law was violated when the first tender procedure allowing only mobile operators to join was wrapped up and the work order was started leaving the ISPs out.

“The mobile operators provide 1,800 Gbps internet to their 13 crore subscribers but ISPs provide the same amount of bandwidth to our 1 crore subscribers. That means we are capable as well and willing to ensure high-speed internet with high volumes compared to them,” he said.

The service cost will remain almost the same for both ISPs and the telecom operators, Emdadul added.

“We don’t know whether the ISPs will get the tender but we believe that we are capable enough to take part in the new tender and take a shot,” he said.

Previously, the Primary Education Directorate had called open tenders in November 2021 to provide broadband internet to 41,000 government primary schools across the country.

After verification and selection, one mobile operator was instructed to provide internet through a Wi-Fi system at 39,701 schools in 61 districts, leaving the three hill districts out. The operator was supposed to provide a 5 Mbps speed connection to each school with data capping at 20 Gbps for a month.

However, the ministry cancelled the work order last week and started reviewing the whole process in the face of the ISPs’ protests.