Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), a state-owned telecommunications infrastructure agency, made a hefty Tk 250 crore profit on earnings of Tk 441.74 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal.

The information was made public by the company’s Managing Director (MD) Md Azam Ali through an event held at the capital's Hotel Intercontinental on Saturday, at which Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar was the chief guest.

Speaking as chief guest, Jabbar stressed the need to turn BSCCL into a 'technologically competent institution' to meet the needs of the hour.

“Submarine cable is a critical telecommunications infrastructure of the country. As a public company, BSCCL has a role to play for the country and its people. Providing affordable internet services is one of these roles,” said Jabbar.

Stating the difference between the price of bandwidth in 2008 and now, Jabbar added that the government has been able to reduce bandwidth price to a great extent in the intervening years.

“In 2008, each mbps bandwidth used to cost Tk 27,000, which has now come down to only Tk 240. In FY2017-18, BSCCL earned only Tk 1.4 crore as revenue, which has now surpassed Tk 400 crore. The government is working to provide high speed internet to each and every corner of the country following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pledge of a Digital Bangladesh,” Jabbar added.

Mohammad Khalilur Rahman, Chairman of BSCCL and Posts and Telecommunications Secretary, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Habibur Rahman, MD of Teletalk, among others, were present at the event.