Bhutan keen to import internet bandwidth from Bangladesh

Bhutan is keen to import internet bandwidth from Bangladesh, said State Minister for Telecom Tarana Halim, who is currently visiting the South Asian landlocked country.

Bhutan's Information and Communi-cations Minister DN Dhungyel expressed their interest in a meeting with Tarana in Thimphu on Monday.

“The issue was also raised in my meeting with Bhutan's Prime Minister Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay,” Tarana told The Daily Star over phone.

Bhutan will send a delegation to Bangladesh by November to fix the amount of bandwidth to be exported, price and route, she said.

Currently, Bhutan uses an internet connection of 2gbps.

To export bandwidth to Bhutan, Bangladesh will have to use Indian territory; fibre optic cable will also need to be laid.

Tarana got a positive response from India when she discussed the issue with Indian Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha last week.

India started importing bandwidth from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) in February this year for the Eastern part of the country.

During her visit to Delhi last week, Tarana received the first cheque for $275,000 from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)—India's state-owned telecom company—as bandwidth export price.

Bangladesh has a 200gbps bandwidth connection with the submarine cable: South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4), and the country uses around 130gbps now.

Bangladesh will be connected with the second submarine cable—SEA-ME-WE 5—in December; the country will get another 1,300gbps internet bandwidth from the connection.

Tarana along with the top officials of BSCCL also met with Tripura's Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and officials of BSNL and called for importing more bandwidth from Bangladesh.

Besides Tripura, there is demand for internet bandwidth in India's other eastern states, including Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagachal and Mizoram.

After Bhutan, Bangladesh will seek to export bandwidth to Nepal, said a senior official of BSCCL.