Internet disruption caused by a fire incident at Khawaja Tower in Dhaka's Mohakhali is expected to be restored by 80% across Bangladesh on Friday night, according to the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB)
ISPAB President Emdadul Haque told the media on Friday evening: "We have received permission to enter the fire-damaged building.”
Internet service provider organizations are testing their equipment. The equipment was not damaged in the fire. Transferring the connection to another server is now in progress, said the ISPAB president.
“Hopefully, 80% of the affected internet service will be restored by night,” he added.
A fire broke out at Khawaja Tower in Mohakhali around 4:45pm on Thursday.
Three people were killed in the fire incident.
The fire was completely extinguished on Friday morning.
Broadband internet services have taken a severe hit following the fire. Mobile internet and voice calls have also been impacted, although to a lesser extent compared to broadband connections.
The building houses operation centres of several International Internet Gateway (IIG) service providers, data centres and interconnection exchanges (ICXs).
Currently, the country has 12.15 million broadband internet users. Among them, approximately 40% — or around 5 million users — are experiencing disruptions, with many completely losing internet access. Meanwhile, those who still have access are facing slow internet speeds.