The Government of India, seeking fibre optic connectivity for its seven eastern provinces, has sent a letter to the foreign ministry and other related ministries requesting Bangladesh Government’s view on the issue of “tele-transit” through optical fibres via Akhaura border.
Md Abu Bakar Siddique, secretary to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, told the Dhaka Tribune: “This is the first time the Central Government of India has offered us fibre optic connectivity in order to connect its seven eastern provinces with its central telecommunication system through our borders.
“Earlier, the concerned authorities of Assam discussed the issue with our submarine cable company – Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, but that was not a proper formal approach.
“The two countries will soon hold a meeting regarding the issue and maybe we will provide them with the needed connectivity through optical fibres.”
According to sources, seven eastern provinces – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura do not possess any fibre optic connection which is why their cost of telecommunication is high. India is planning to reduce the provinces’ telecommunication costs by connecting them through fibre optic cables laid over Bangladesh.
The letter requesting the view of the government was sent by the High Commission of India, Dhaka on March 25. It was then immediately sent to the posts and telecommunications ministry and BTRC.
Abu Bakar futher said: “The letter stated that the High Commission requests the views of Bangladesh on the fibre optic cable, methodology for operation and maintenance of the network and bandwidth charge.”
“We have sent the letter to BSCCL and they are working on fixing the bandwidth price and methods of connectivity,” he added.
However, a foreign ministry high official, seeking anonymity, said: “If the posts and telecommunications ministry works on the issue properly, we might be able to provide connection to our neighbour country and earn some money as well.”
The Indian high communication letter also mentioned that only 15km of fibre optic cable is needed to be laid from Akhaura town to the India border and if such connectivity is established, adequate amount of bandwidth can be hired from BSCCL.
Md Monwar Hossain, managing director of BSCCL echoed the telecommunications secretary’s thoughts: “Though provinces like Assam have been requesting for fibre connectivity through ‘tele-transit,’ the Indian central government for the first time has sent a formal letter regarding the issue.”
He said: “Assam had requested for 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) of bandwidth few years ago. If the other provinces also want connectivity the total consumption would be around 50Gbps which will make an earning of estimated Tk150m per month and Tk1.8bn a year; the figure may increase every year.”
When asked about the possibility of the deal, Monwar said: “It is by every means the government’s decision. If government wants to tag the Teesta water sharing treaty with this deal, they can. On this ground we have the upper hand.”
The BSCCL MD also said: “If the seven provinces are connected through this link, then it will become easier to go for Nepal and Bhutan; these two countries have also been requesting for bandwidth for a long time.”
Meanwhile, the private sector of Bangladesh assured that they have no problem regarding the connectivity deal, but they expressed that they want the country to gain something in the process.
“Mutual interests can be established in the process. It will not be only about earning money but we must also receive something more by giving fibre optic connectivity,” Fahim Mashroor, president of Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services told the Dhaka Tribune over the phone.