At first glance, it appears to be good news that Bangladesh is exporting bandwidth to the state of Assam in India. This is not the first time Bangladesh has done so, having reached an agreement to also export bandwidth to Tripura previously as well as Saudi Arabia.
There is no doubt that Bangladesh’s internet penetration has increased by leaps and bounds, seeing exponential growth over the past decade or so. From roughly 50,000 broadband connections in 2009, there are an estimated 10 million broadband connections in the country -- a truly remarkable turnaround.
Bangladesh has also started work on its third submarine cable connection which will further increase internet capacity in the country, which is why the authorities are comfortable with the export of bandwidth.
There are strategic and political reasons for these agreements, and we would hope and expect that these are being conducted while keeping in mind the benefits they bring Bangladesh, first and foremost.
However, while we are assured that Bangladesh has sufficient bandwidth to meet and exceed domestic demand, the question remains: Has enough been done to ensure internet quality across Bangladesh? While urban areas continue to see faster internet speeds, there remain plenty of rural areas that fail to get any connection to the internet, let alone a fast and reliable one.
It is worth remembering daily that despite Bangladesh’s progress and growth, it is only truly meaningful when it is equitable. Bangladesh intends to be taken seriously as a 21st century economy, and it cannot do so without all its people having access to reliable internet. As such, we expect all regions of Bangladesh, and not just cities and towns, to have fast, reliable internet.