The state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable PLC (BSCPLC) has crossed a major milestone in internet infrastructure by supplying over 4.00 terabits per second of international bandwidth, marking the highest-ever capacity transmission by the company.
The BSCPLC, which is listed on the stock exchange, achieved this new record on August 1, shortly after the commercial launch of satellite-based internet service (Starlink) in July, which added 200 gigabits of bandwidth per second to the country’s overall internet capacity, said a press release issued by the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing on Saturday.
Earlier, on April 28, BSCPLC reached the 3-terabit mark, and in just three months, the company added another terabit.
In contrast, it took eight months for the company prior to April to increase bandwidth by only 1.10 terabits.
Earlier, during the Awami League's tenure, more than 65% of the company's capacity was left unutilised.
During the current government’s tenure, the company’s bandwidth supply has increased by more than 2.2 terabits of capacity in just one year, with the growth rate exceeding 105%.
This achievement has been made possible over the past few months due to policy support and guidance from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the sincere efforts of the company’s management and two phases of price reductions.
As Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC’s share in the country’s bandwidth usage has steadily increased, the company’s revenue collection has also risen significantly.
Recently, through an amendment to its licensing guidelines, BTRC has directed all IIG operators to source at least 50 percent of their utilised bandwidth from submarine bandwidth.
This move aims to reduce overreliance on unilateral, India-dependent internet supply and promote greater use of submarine bandwidth.
In line with this, Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC has begun offering additional discounts on increased bandwidth usage to those IIG operators who have started using more than 50 percent of their total bandwidth from submarine sources.
Besides, the company has introduced dedicated internet packages for data centres, cloud service providers, and hyperscalers—outside of the regular discounted bulk packages.
In addition to the existing SEA-ME-WE 4 and SEA-ME-WE 5, the government has signed an agreement for the revised route of SEA-ME-WE 6, which was approved at the latest ECNEC meeting.
Through this initiative, an additional 17 terabits of new capacity will be added to the real-time internet footprint of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company.