Staff Reporter :
Internet users in Bangladesh have been experiencing slow internet speeds for the past five days.
The disruption in uninterrupted internet connectivity is due to a severed connection in the submarine cable located at Kuakata, Patuakhali.
“Bangladesh Submarine Cables Co. Ltd. (BSCCL) is working to normalise the situation,” said a BSCCL official.
However, the internet’s normal speed is not returning immediately.
This slow-speed situation may continue for another month.
BSCCL states that a fiber cable has been cut at the bottom of the sea in Indonesian waters. Repair work is underway there.
It may take at least 5 weeks for the repair to be completed. In that case, the connection may normalise by the end of May.
It has been learned that slow internet speeds were observed across the country from around midnight on April 19.
At first, BSCCL came to know that a fiber cable was cut somewhere in the waters of Singapore but later, after further investigation it was revealed that the cable got severed at the bottom of the sea in the waters of Indonesia, and not Singapore.
This completely shut down the connection to the country’s second submarine cable (SMW-5).
BSCCL Managing Director Mirza Kamal Ahmed said that about 1,600 Gbps of bandwidth is supplied to Bangladesh through SMW-5 (the second submarine cable). That is now completely closed.
BSCCL General Manager (Operation and Maintenance) Saidur Rahman told the media, “The SMW-5 cable has actually broken in the Indonesian sea area. They are working to repair it.
The work may be completed by the end of the third or fourth week of next month, that is, May.”
Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan, Secretary General of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), an organization of internet service providers, has demanded government steps to ensure speedy bandwidth supply.
