The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has rejected proposals from two Bangladeshi companies seeking internet transit services to Indian company Bharti Airtel.
The two companies are– Summit Communications and Fiber@ Home Ltd, both Bangladeshi international terrestrial cable (ITC) and telecom transmission service providers.
They had applied to the BTRC for approval of their business plans to provide International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) transits to Bharti Airtel and earn some revenue.
The commercial transit, if allowed, may discourage global giants like Meta, Google, Akamai, Amazon to set up local servers in Bangladesh, alongside weakening Bangladesh’s potential as a regional hub for online connectivity, according to a BTRC letter to the Posts and Telecommunications Division on 1 December.
The transit would also weaken the potential for exporting surplus bandwidth to the neighbouring markets, said the BTRC in its latest letter that withdrew its two previous letters to the Posts and Telecommunications Division that was batting for the transit.
According to the plan, Summit Communications and Fiber@ Home Ltd, as the major Nationwide Telecommunications Transmission Network (NTTN) operators of the country, would build terrestrial cable landing stations (TCLS) in the Akhaura border. The station would be connected to the Kuakata and Cox’s Bazar landing stations of the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company through the fiber optic cable of the NTTN operators.
Bharti Airtel would use the internet transmission infrastructure, from Akhaura to Singapore, as an IPLC connection to provide internet services to the seven North-Eastern states of India, popularly called the seven sisters.
Indian internet provider companies, including Bharti Airtel, transmit internet to the seven sisters through a long fiber line via the north of Bangladesh.
The IPLC could help Bharti provide a superior internet there as the data travel distance could be cut by more than 3,500 km while internet latency was expected to be reduced by around 30 milliseconds.
The transit plan was made during the rule of the ousted Awami League government. After their fall on 5 August this year, the BTRC has gone through a major change in its top leadership.
Experts are not too surprised about the BTRC decision as the trust gap between the two neighbouring countries widened in the recent months.
Also, the transit plan was yet to be approved by the regulators of either country, even before the political changes.
Of the international bandwidth Bangladesh consumes right now, 60% comes through the ITC companies via India, while the remaining 40% is being catered by state owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company’s installed capacity is 7,217 Gbps, of which 2,343 Gbps is being used now, according to the BTRC.
