Bangladesh to sell internet bandwidth to Assam

Bangladesh will export 30 GBPS of bandwidth to Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited, a government-owned entity of the Indian state of Assam.

The issue of export was finalised at a meeting of an Indian delegation with Posts and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar at the secretariat on Tuesday.

It was decided to sign the agreement in this regard after all the processes are completed by November. The telecommunication minister has directed the institutions concerned to follow due process for bandwidth export to Assam.

Once the process is completed, Assam will establish a cable connection from Tamabil in Sylhet, via Dawki in Meghalaya, to Guwahati at its own expense. However, the minister assured the delegation that Bangladesh will establish an alternative line to ensure uninterrupted connectivity to Tamabil.

Currently, Tripura in India also imports 20 GBPS of bandwidth from Bangladesh.

Kumbamut Lang Nongbri, Joint Secretary (IT) to the Meghalaya State Government, led their delegation at the meeting where Managing Director of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Limited, Md Sahab Uddin, was present.

Posts and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar said that on the eve of the onset of Covid-19 in 2020, 1,000 GBPS of bandwidth was used in the country, which increased to 3,800 GBPS at present. Bangladesh has started its third submarine cable connection and an additional 13,200 GBPS of bandwidth will be connected when the third submarine connection is completed.

Besides, 3,800 GBPS more of bandwidth is going to be added to the first submarine cable, which will increase the current capacity almost five fold, he added.

Other members of the Assamese delegation were Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited Manager Shyamal Sarkar, Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited Consultant CR Deka, and Dipankar Chowdhury.