The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has refused a proposal to provide transit for bandwidth to India through Bangladesh as the transit might weaken Bangladesh鈥檚 role as a regional digital hub.
The BTRC issued a letter in this regard on December 1.
International terrestrial cable operators 鈥楽ummit Communications鈥� and 鈥楩iber at Home鈥� submitted an application during the former Awami Legue government to the BTRC for its approval to permit Bharti Airtel Limited to run a transit connection from Akhaura border to Singapore by establishing an internet circuit at Akhaura border.
A terrestrial cable is聽a communications cable which crosses land, rather than water.
Contacted, several BTRC officials denied commenting on the matter.
They, however, said that the transit would offer minimal benefits to Bangladesh. The primary beneficiaries would have been Summit Communications and Fiber at Home, which were allegedly connected with the deposed Awami League government. The actual advantage would have gone to India.
Bharti Airtel submitted the proposal to Bangladesh鈥檚 Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry then forwarded it to the Post and Telecommunication Division and then to BTRC for evaluation.
According to a letter issued by the engineering and operations division of the commission on December 1, the BTRC decided not to approve the application after reviewing it.
Content delivery networks, such as Google, Meta, Akamai, and Amazon might be discouraged to establish their data centres in Bangladesh, if the International Private Leased Circuit transit connection is approved, the letter said.
This kind of connection will weaken Bangladesh鈥檚 position as a regional digital hub, it said.
鈥楾he capacity of the submarine cables will increase in the future. If this transit proposal is approved, it might decrease the chance to export bandwidth to the neighbouring countries by using the capacity of those submarine cables,鈥� it added.
International terrestrial cable operators supply 60 per cent of the international bandwidth used in the country, Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC supplies the remaining 40 per cent. Despite having usage capacity of 7,217 Gbps, the company鈥檚 bandwidth usage is only 2,343 Gbps currently.
Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over an internet connection in a given time. Higher bandwidth means faster downloads, smoother streaming, and better overall performance, making it crucial for handling modern internet activities and multiple devices.
鈥業f such connections are provided in favour of ITC operators, it will disrupt making the huge quantity of unused bandwidth of the BSCPLC usable,鈥� the letter further said.
India currently enjoys road transits through Bangladesh by four transhipment routes for Indian traders in Tripura and other north-eastern states, and a rail transit to carry goods and passengers across its territory.