PM Hasina opens second submarine cable landing station

The Government of Bangladesh announced the opening of a second submarine cable and landing station in an effort to provide greater connectivity and faster internet. The project was launched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The new landing station in Kalapara Upazila will receive 1,500 Gbps of Internet bandwidth from the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe International Consortium (SEA-ME-WE-5) Submarine Cable which connects 19 countries. Bangladesh currently uses more than 400 Gbps with state owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) providing 12 Gbps while the remaining bandwidth imported from India. In launching this project, the Government of Bangladesh hopes that the boost in international bandwidth capacity will prevent local telecom companies from buying international bandwidth from abroad. The second submarine cable will be operated by BSCCL. This public investment venture was estimated to cost Taka6.6 billion ( around US$80 million) with an operational lifetime of around 20-25 years.

Source: bdnews24.com, http://bdnews24.com/economy/2017/09/10/pm-hasina-opens-second-submarine-cable-landing-station , accessed 12 September 2017.