bdnews24.com :
The government has decided to sell the unused bandwidth of the country’s lone submarine cable to generate more revenue.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication took the decision, which is to be carried out by retaining enough bandwidth to meet the country’s projected needs up to 2021, Post and Telecommunication Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique told bdnews24.com after a meeting of the ministry.
The decision was taken at a meeting on the unused capacity of SEA-ME-WE 4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4) held at the ministry chaired by Post and Telecommunication Minister Abdul Latif Siddiquee.
Telecom Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique said: “Though it had been earlier decided to lease the unused bandwidth, today’s meeting has decided in principle to sell it. The decision has been taken since an outright sale will bring three times the revenue of that of a leased agreement.”
He said the government would soon issue advertisements in newspapers. “The government would earn nearly Tk 600 from the sale.”
The official said the unused bandwidth was lying idle and serving no purpose.
“The SEA-ME-WE-4 cable will expire in 2025 and that its use has declined since the country is now connected with six International terrestrial cables.”
Monwar Hossain, Managing Director of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), said that the country is currently consuming only 40 Gbps while the capacity of the cable is 200 Gbps.
