BSCPLC Dismisses Claims of an Impending Bandwidth Shortage

Bangla Press Desk:  Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company PLC (BSCPLC) has brushed aside warnings of an impending bandwidth shortage, raised by a section of private submarine cable investors, saying no such shortfall exists or is likely in future.

The state-run company, which supplies the bulk of the country's internet bandwidth through two submarine cables, made the claim on Wednesday.

The rebuttal follows a workshop organised on Monday by the Technology Reporters Network of Bangladesh (TRNB), an association of telecom and technology journalists, where a section of private submarine cable investors raised concerns about a future bandwidth crunch, concerns later carried by several media outlets.

BSCPLC called the bandwidth-shortage narrative deliberate, saying its two cables are not yet operating at full capacity, while work to add further submarine cable capacity is already under way.

It said recent reports in some media outlets and online portals, carrying headlines suggesting Bangladesh stood on the brink of a bandwidth crisis or that prices could rise and speeds fall due to a shortage, were “misleading and divorced from reality”.

The operator said its two existing submarine cables, SEA-ME-WE 4 and SEA-ME-WE 5, have a combined capacity of about 7,200 gigabits per second (Gbps), of which around 4,000 Gbps is in use, leaving another 3,200 Gbps available.

It noted that the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable, now under implementation, will raise BSCPLC’s capacity to 34,000 Gbps when it comes into operation in 2027.

Citing Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) projections, the company said national bandwidth demand could reach 30,000 Gbps by 2030, while state-owned submarine cables are expected to have a combined capacity of 41,000 Gbps by 2027.

Bandwidth is also being imported through six International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) operators, it said.

BSCPLC has already begun work to join a fourth submarine cable system.

A consortium of local investors in a stalled private submarine cable project appears to have run into difficulty over the issue.

The consortium poured substantial investment into the project, launched under the Awami League government overthrown in 2024, only for it to stall at a "final stage" amid regulatory complications following the political change on Aug 5 that year.

The consortium, called the Bangladesh Private Cable System Consortium, includes Summit Communications, CDNet Communications and Metacore Subcom Limited.

Its members have since been lobbying at different levels of government and speaking to the media to push for approval of the project.