Industry views on alternative link
The nation is set to tie links with its giant neighbour, India, through optical fibre by next month.
But insiders within the telecom and IT industry are still in a haze about whether the move will actually be able to ease the problems that the sector faces.
While a majority of the insiders have hailed the move to create an alternative to the existing lone submarine cable connection, many are still sceptical as to whether this would be a step in the right direction in reducing the high price of bandwidth that deters growth of internet connectivity across Bangladesh.
State run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL) said earlier this month that it is ready to launch its long awaited optical fibre cable, linking Darshana of Bangladesh with Kkrishna Nagar of India.
"From our side, we are all set to go into operations within four weeks. Hopefully, our Indian counterpart Bharat Sanchar Nirgom Ltd (BSNL) would also be prepared within that period," Absar Alam, managing director of BTCL, said earlier.
"This would surely increase the quality of both voice and data services," Alam told The Daily Star. "The link would provide extra bandwidth, while handling many more voice calls at a time."
Nonetheless, he was also unsure of the terms and conditions under which the international call handlers and internet service providers would be able to use the new terrestrial optical fibre.
"We are yet to decide on the actual terms and conditions for using the terrestrial cable," Absar said. "Many things depend on bilateral negotiations between the two countries that are beyond the control of BTCL."
Such notions have evoked mixed reactions among the country's major IT and telecom service providers. They have long been waiting alternative links to ensuring uninterrupted data and voice services, as well as reducing the price of bandwidth.
"We welcome the historic government move," Grameenphone Chief Executive Officer Oddvar Hesjedal said, referring to the upcoming terrestrial link with India.
"We believe such an initiative will help the growing telecom and ICT industry," he said. "We hope to see more terrestrial cables be deployed in future."
"However, the high bandwidth price is still a bar to building Bangladesh as an outsourcing hub," added Hesjedal.
Other leaders within the telecom and IT industries also share the view that an alternative optical fibre link could bring manifold benefits to the local ICT sector.
"This could be a real boon to the growth of the local call centres and other IT outsourcing industries," said Forkan Bin Quasem, secretary general of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).
"This could provide a solution to the frequent submarine cable glitches we often face," he said.
Bangladesh was linked with a submarine cable, SMW-4, in 2006 at a cost of $35.1 million. It has a capacity to handle 120 Gb of bandwidth, of which, the country now subscribes to 24.12 Gb.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd handles the lone undersea cable from Cox's Bazar to Dhaka. The country uses 23 percent of its capacity domestically.
In Bangladesh, six million people are now using the internet, while the internet penetration rate is four percent. High-speed broadband is yet to flourish because of costly bandwidth.
"With better connectivity, all sorts of web centric services and activities are likely to see a boom, as local hosting services would flourish. Providing remote access management services would be easier," Quasem said.
However, the internet service providers said the move is unlikely to have an impact on bandwidth price, referring to the cost of other infrastructure involved in providing internet services.
"Bandwidth price accounts for merely 25 percent of the total cost of providing internet services to end users," said Akhteruzzaman Manju, president of Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh.
"Infrastructure costs, including the high procurement cost of various equipment, eat up much of our investment."
"Therefore, the internet price can only be lowered if the government provides duty free facilities on the import of such equipment," he added.
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