The proposal to sign a deal on Internet bandwidth export to India’s ‘Seven Sisters’ states is going to be placed in today’s cabinet meeting and expected to be signed shortly.
The price for per Mbps is proposed at $10.Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its counterpart Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s state-owned telecommunications company last year.
Initially, the deal is going to be finalised for exporting 10Gbps which will increase up to 40Gbps within a short time, Monowar Hossain, managing director of BSCCL, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday evening.
“We are waiting for the cabinet nod, and after getting it, we will go for the final deal,” said Monowar Hossain.
Sources said initially the submarine cable company fixed a higher price, but as local market price declined they had to come up with the new price.
“We have calculated that we will earn $1,00,000 every month and it will increase up to $4,00,000,” a senior official told the Dhaka Tribune, requesting anonymity.
Earlier, BSCCL calculated that it would earn $6,00,000 every month, when they signed the MoU in last May of 2014.
The submarine cable company said it had three selected points for establishing the links with Indian Eastern states but both the party agreed that first connection will be established between Akhaura under Brahmanbaria district and Agartala, the capital of Tripura.
It has also plan to connect it with Shillong and Assam points also.
According to the company, it is expected that India will take more than 100Gbps within a year or two when the second submarine consortium SE-ME-WE-5 will be connected with Bangladesh.
The connection is scheduled to take place by 2016.
The cable company expects a huge earning from the states when the second submarine consortium SE-ME-WE-5 will be connected.
Currently, it has 200Gbps (88MIU-km) bandwidth and Bangladesh can use only 33 Gbps or 16% of it.
Last year in February, Bangladesh government decided to export the unused internet bandwidth following a request from India in July last year seeking 40Gbps bandwidth for their eight eastern states.
BSCCL said the Seven Sisters – Arunachal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Shilong – have a huge demand for bandwidth.
