Bangladesh set to earn $1.2 million a year as Cabinet clears 10GBPS bandwidth export to India

The Cabinet has cleared an agreement to export unused submarine cable bandwidth to India that will fetch Bangladesh $1.2 million every year.

The proposal, placed by the Post and Telecommunication Division, was approved at Monday’s regular meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said.

He said the agreement to supply 10GBPS (gigabyte per second) bandwidth was a “win-win situation” for both countries.

“Bangladesh is earning foreign currency while India’s north-east is getting easy internet connection, which they had to get from Mumbai [previously],” Bhuiyan said.

India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company (BSCCL) will sign the agreement.

“It will be leased out on a commercial basis,” Bhuiyan said. “Bangladesh will make $1.2 million every year from the three-year contract.”

He said the bandwidth export could be extended to 40GBPS based on India’s requirement.

It will be exported through Brahmanbarhia’s Akhaurha from the Cox’s Bazar landing station of Bangladesh’s only submarine cable C-M-U-4.

Secretary Bhuiyan said, “Bangladesh uses only 30GBPS out of the submarine cable’s 200GBPS bandwidth. We’ll have lots of unused bandwidth even after exporting.”

Bangladesh would get another 1,300GB bandwidth once linked with a second submarine cable in December next year under a consortium, he added.

“There won’t be any crisis even with increased internet usage,” the secretary said.

Bhuiyan said legal vetting had been done and Bangladesh Bank consulted for the agreement.

Asked if the bandwidth price would be changed in future, he said, “We fixed the price after bilateral consultations. The same process will be followed in future.”