SMW-5 Restored After Two-and-a-Half Hours

Bangladesh’s SEA-ME-WE-5 (SMW-5) submarine cable, one of the country’s major international internet connectivity routes, has been restored after remaining out of service for nearly two and a half hours.

On Saturday, August 15, 2026, at around 11:30am, connectivity on both the eastern and western routes of the cable was completely disrupted. The connection was restored at around 2:00pm.

The disruption initially raised concerns over a major internet outage in Bangladesh. However, the availability of alternative international routes helped prevent a nationwide internet disruption. During the outage, many users experienced slower internet speeds, delays in accessing foreign websites and servers, and temporary difficulties using online platforms.

According to Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC), an estimated time for repair could not immediately be provided after the disruption because the company was waiting for information from the main consortium operating the cable.

A preliminary assessment suggested that the issue could have been related to power supply or equipment at the landing station in Matara, Sri Lanka. However, the exact and final cause of the disruption has not yet been confirmed.

A significant portion of Bangladesh’s international bandwidth is carried through SMW-5. During the outage, internet service providers had to divert traffic through alternative routes. Customers of providers that were able to shift traffic quickly to backup routes experienced comparatively limited disruption.

Nevertheless, some users faced temporary slowdowns while accessing international server-based services, online meetings, gaming platforms and large file downloads.

Bangladesh currently has other international connectivity options, including the SMW-4 submarine cable and multiple International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) links with India. These backup routes play an important role in maintaining international internet connectivity when one submarine cable becomes unavailable.

Although the immediate connectivity problem has been resolved, questions remain about the cause of the failure. BSCPLC is waiting for the final fault report from the SMW-5 consortium to determine whether the incident was caused by a specific location or equipment failure and whether there is any risk of recurrence.

The consortium’s final report is expected to provide a clearer explanation of the cause of the sudden two-and-a-half-hour disruption.

//DBTech/SI/SME//