Internet disruption likely to continue for 4-5 more days
Bangladesh Submarine Cables Company has expressed sincere apologies for the temporary inconvenience to its customers
The internet disruption due to a cut in the country's second submarine cable at Kuakata is likely to continue for at least 4-5 days, according to Bangladesh submarine cable authorities.
The submarine cable SEA-ME-WE 5, which is the source of 1700 GBPS bandwidth, is not allowing any data traffic after it was cut 440km west of Singapore at 12am on Friday.
"The international consortium is looking for a special purpose ship that is a must for the restoration of the undersea cable," Mirza Kamal Ahmed, managing director (additional charge) of the Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC, told The Business Standard.
"No one can specify the exact duration," he said, adding, "Based on past cases, it is likely to require a minimum of 4-5 days,"
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However, internet service has been kept running with the help of the country's first submarine cable SEA-ME-WE-4 at Cox's Bazar and ITC companies, even though the speed remains low, the state-run submarine cable operator said.
Significant amount of unused bandwidth from the cut SEA-ME-WE 5 cable is being shifted to the first cable, it added.
"We are serving all our users with the help of other sources of bandwidth—the international terrestrial cable (ITC) and the first submarine cable," said Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan, secretary general of the ISP Association of Bangladesh.
However, users are facing some lag, he told TBS on Saturday afternoon.
"As the main broadband usage peaks during the night, we could learn about the full extent of the disruption and any resulting delays tonight," he added.
In a statement today (20 April), the submarine cable authorities expressed sincere apologies for the temporary inconvenience to its customers and assured of quick restoration of the second cable.
Bangladesh currently needs some 5,200 GBPS internet bandwidth and half of the demand is being catered by the ITC companies which import bandwidth from India.
For the remaining half of the demand, the country depends on the state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company.
The first submarine cable SEA-ME-WE 4, in Cox's Bazar, supplies around 850 GBPS bandwidth.
