Desk Report: The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has implemented a cap on bandwidth imports from India, limiting them to 50 percent of the country’s total consumption of 6,500 Gbps. This move aims to reduce reliance on a single source and foster more diversified international connectivity.
Currently, around 60 percent of Bangladesh’s bandwidth is imported from India by Internet Gateway (IIG) companies through International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) networks. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Submarine Cable PLC (BSCPLC) supplies the remaining 40 percent of the country’s bandwidth.
BTRC Chairman Emdad ul Bari outlined the regulator’s future goal: to decrease bandwidth imports from India to 30 percent, while increasing the share of submarine cable-supplied bandwidth to 60 percent from BSCPLC. The remaining 10 percent will be sourced via satellite.
This new direction comes with an amendment to the International Internet Gateway (IIG) guidelines. Under the revised framework, IIG operators can use satellite backup capacity (via Satellite Earth Station/VSAT) for up to 10 percent of their total bandwidth until alternative International Long-Distance Communication (ILDC) routes are available.
Md Ariful Huq, Deputy General Manager for Sales and Marketing at BSCPLC, confirmed that they are ready to supply additional bandwidth immediately to meet the demand.
Additionally, operators will need to adhere to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and obtain prior approval from the BTRC to secure backup bandwidth via satellite, which is typically provided by VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) stations for remote areas where other internet access is limited.