Internet disruption likely in mid Oct

Internet users are likely to face disruption in data services in mid October due to maintenance work of the primary submarine cable under the Bay of Bengal.

Maintenance will begin October 16 and will go on for three days, said Monwar Hossain, managing director of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited.

According to him, “some internet disruption” may be caused as the second cable of 1,500Gbps bandwidth capacity, launched last month, will be used alternatively.

Bangladesh currently uses only 200Gbps bandwidth from the second cable. “If the second cable fails to provide adequate bandwidth, it may lead to internet disruption,” Hossain told The Daily Star.

“We are trying to shift all our connectivity with the second cable,” he said.

Currently, the state-run company is supplying about 250 Gbps bandwidth and there will be a shortage of about 50 Gbps during the maintenance period.

Bangladesh uses about 450 Gbps bandwidth. The state-run BSCCL supplies 250Gbps and an additional 200 Gbps is imported from India.

“We are trying to purchase another 50 Gbps from some international companies for one month to tackle the situation,” Hossain added.

This will be the first time ever that maintenance work will be conducted on Bangladesh’s primary submarine cable under the Bay of Bengal in its 12 years of history.