Bandwidth export to India kicks off

Bangladesh began exporting bandwidth -- 10 gigabits a second -- to India's northeastern state of Tripura on Monday, in line with a deal signed with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd last year.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd or BSCCL started supplying 10 Gbps bandwidth on a trial basis on Sunday and India confirmed it is using the whole capacity, said Monwar Hossain, managing director of the state-owned company.

“The additional general manager of BSNL's Agartala office sent an e-mail to confirm that they are receiving good quality connectivity. They also requested us to send invoice from February 8,” said Hossain.

State-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company set up connectivity for bandwidth transmission with Tripura's capital Agartala on November 16.

Hossain said they have been trying to export bandwidth to different countries in the last six years; eventually, they were able to strike a deal with India.

The two sides signed the bandwidth export deal on June 5 last year, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will earn $10 for per Mbps of bandwidth and will earn $1.2 million or Tk 9.6 crore a year, Hossain said, adding that payment will be made on a quarterly basis.

After taking the 10 Gbps into account, BSCCL's total use has increased up to 73 Gbps of its 200 Gbps capacity, he said.

India may take another 40 Gbps in the next six months, which may further rise to 100 Gbps with the establishment of the connection between Bangladesh and the second submarine consortium by 2016, according to Hossain.