Internet to be disrupted on March 2

Internet services will face partial disruption throughout the country from 7am to 7pm on March 2, as the country's first submarine cable will remain partially disconnected for its maintenance.

The circuits of the Singapore side of SEA-ME-WE-4, a submarine communications cable system that connects Bangladesh from Cox's Bazar to Singapore, will remain partially closed during the period, said Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC).

"During the maintenance period, internet users of BSCPLC may experience temporary slowdowns or interruptions in internet service. We sincerely regret the temporary inconvenience to customers during the maintenance work."

However, the second submarine cable, SEA-ME-WE-5 installed in Kuakata will remain operational as usual.

Total bandwidth usage now stands at about 5,000 Gbps and more than half of it -- about 2,700 Gbps -- comes through international terrestrial cable licence holders that import bandwidth from India across land borders as of October last year.

The rest -- about 2,300 Gbps -- is supplied by the BSCPLC, which connects the country with two submarine cables, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Bangladesh is a member of the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) consortium, the first undersea cable with which Bangladesh was connected in 2006.

It supplies around 800 Gbps bandwidth.

The BSCCL has supplied 1,500 Gbps through the SEA-ME-WE 5 since the connection was established in 2017.

The company is set to receive 13,200 Gbps from the third undersea cable, SEA-ME-WE 6, by 2025.

Also, the BSCCL is going to spend $3.2 million to raise the capacity of its first undersea cable by nearly six times to 4,600 Gbps.

Three private licensees of submarine cable -- Summit Communications, CdNet Communications and Metacore Subcom Ltd -- have formed a consortium to install the country's first private submarine cable by 2025, which will have the capacity to supply 45,000 Gbps bandwidth.