Govt releases addl Tk17cr to expedite installation work

The government has released an additional Tk17.25 crore to speed up the work on laying the third submarine cable.

The sum of money has been released out of additional allocation of the Tk23 crore from Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the current fiscal year 2022-23, according to sources at the Planning Commission.

The government is installing the third submarine cable at a cost of Tk1,055 crore to expand the country’s international telecommunication network and ensure high-speed internet. Of this, $39 million or Tk410 crore has been disbursed to implement the project in three phases. Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) is implementing the project which is scheduled to be completed by June 2025.

BSCCL in September 2021 signed an agreement with the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe-6 (SEA-ME-WE-6) Consortium to connect to the third submarine cable. Once completed, the cable will be 19,200 km long. According to government officials, the country will be able to enjoy 13,200 Gbps of bandwidth, once the project is completed.

With the advent of the internet, the country is witnessing fast digital transformation in all walks of life. Net consumption growth has been over 70 per cent in the past few years. The government is laying a third submarine cable to maintain high speed of internet service to cope with the pressure of growing users. Authorities are also looking to ensure high-speed internet connectivity in industrial zones, economic zones, export processing zones (EPZs).

Under the project, a submarine cable route will be constructed from Cox’s Bazar to Singapore on one side and France on the other. The cable will provide the country with 13.2 Tbps (terabits per second) of bandwidth, which is more than double of the current speed of 6.5 Tbps. The lifespan of this submarine cable will be 20 years.

The country’s first submarine cable was launched in 2005 and the second cable in 2017. The lifespan of the first cable is scheduled to expire in 2025. In addition, with the cable being nearly two-decade old, it has a high maintenance cost while service is not satisfactory.

Once the third cable installation is complete, it will be able to provide bandwidth from Cox’s Bazar Cable Landing Station to different parts of the country.