United News of Bangladesh

The government has approved a substantial cost escalation for Bangladesh’s third submarine cable, aiming to enhance the country’s international telecommunication infrastructure. Under the latest revision, the total cost of the project titled “Expansion of Bangladesh’s International Telecommunication System through Installation of the Third Submarine Cable (Proposed 2nd Revised)” has been increased to Tk 1,285.75 crore, compared to the original allocation of Tk 693.17 crore. The first revision had earlier raised the cost to Tk 1,055.24 crore.The project is being implemented by Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCCL) under the Post and Telecommunication Division. Bangladesh Submarine Cables reduces internet prices by 10% According to the second revision proposal, Tk 476.22 crore will be funded by the government while Tk 809.53 crore will come from BSCCL’s own resources. Along with the cost, the timeline of the project has also been extended. Initially slated for completion between January 2021 and June 2024, the deadline was first extended to June 2025.The timeline has now been extended to June 2027. The project will establish a submarine cable link from Singapore through Mumbai by sea, via Bahrain to Yanbu in Saudi Arabia by land, and from Yanbu to France via Egypt. Bangladesh’s branch will connect to the Cox’s Bazar landing station through the Bay of Bengal. According to the project paper, reasons behind the cost enhancement are extension of project timeline leading to higher salaries, allowances, foreign currency fluctuations and alternative routing through territorial waters. So far, the project has achieved 73.81% financial progress, with expenditures reaching Tk 778.9333 crore as of June 2024, while the physical implementation stands at 75%. The Planning Commission noted that once completed, the third submarine cable will act as a backup for the country’s first and second submarine cables (SEA-ME-WE-4 and SEA-ME-WE-5), ensuring uninterrupted internet and telecommunication services even during maintenance or outages. The project is expected to increase the country’s submarine cable capacity by at least 13.2 Tbps, supporting the growing demand for bandwidth and boosting the export potential of IT-enabled services such as call centers, data entry, and software development. The Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission recommended the project for approval by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) following a Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting held on May 25, 2025 and the ECNEC approved the project in its last meeting.

Internet users may face a slow connection or disruption for 20 hours between 2 am on October 31 and 12 pm on November 2 with intermission due to upgradation of Bangladesh’s first submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE 4) in Cox’s Bazar. A media release signed by director general (operation and maintenance) of Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC shared the development to the media. Read: Khawaja Tower fire burns IIG, affecting Internet speed for many ISPs Regretting the inconvenience, the authorities concerned informed that the internet service will remain slow or will be disrupted for 10 hours from 2 am to 12 pm on October 31 and for another 10 hours from 2 am to 12 pm on November 2, as the circuits connected to cables will partially remain stopped. However, the circuits of the country’s second submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE 5) will remain functional as usual, according to the press release. Read: Minimum validity period for mobile internet packages now 7 days: Mustafa Jabbar After the upgradation, the bandwidth capacity through the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable will increase remarkably, it said.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday cleared four development projects, including Tk 693-crore one to install the third submarine cable.

Around 20,000 families in erosion-prone Naria and Bhedarganj upazilas of Shariatpur passed their entire lifetimes in the dark once the sun went down, using Kerosene lamps to complete essential tasks with the constant howl of the mighty Padma and Meghna rivers ever-present.