The ongoing internet slowness since last two days may continue for a week

The speed of internet service across the country has slowed down a bit since Friday morning. Less bandwidth usage in mobile phones is not understood but has become evident in broadband services. According to sources, the second submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE-5) installed at Kuakata was severed off the coast of Singapore on Friday around 12 midnight. As a result, no bandwidth was being provided from the second submarine cable since that time.

It has been found that the 1600 Gbps bandwidth running through all the international internet gateways connecting Bangladesh through the seabed has been stopped. This is causing slow internet and widespread ping loss across the country. Internet services in the country are now running through SEA-ME-WE-4 and International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) connections. Bangladesh India border is connected by land through Benapole and Haridashpur border.

This slowness of internet across the country will continue for another week, according to Mirza Kamal Ahmed, Managing Director (Additional Duties) of Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC), the main service provider and operator of the country's submarine cable bandwidth.

He told digibanglatech that the second submarine cable suddenly broke off 440 kilometers west of Singapore, without giving any time frame for when the problem would be resolved. 1600GB bandwidth has been shut down due to this unexpected incident. The cable is being repaired and quickly re-connected by the SEA-ME-WE-5 consortium. Shifting to isolated significant bandwidth SEA-ME-WE-4 has been undertaken. Consortium has been contacted. It may be possible to do it tomorrow. He gave the idea that it will take a few weeks in total.

On the other hand, General Secretary of the International Internet Gateway Association (IIG) Ahmed Junayed said that, as Saturdays and Sundays are holidays in the consortium countries, it is taking time to communicate with them. However, it will be possible to increase the bandwidth supply by Monday and Tuesday.

In this regard, Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) Secretary General Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan told DigiBangla that through rationing, we are trying to maintain uninterrupted internet service at the grassroots level. This is why service providers use BSCPLC as well as ITC for bandwidth. The bandwidth ratio of submarine and ITC in the country is 60:40. They are trying to provide backup with ITC. So even if the internet is a bit slower, it won't be that noticeable. Only those who used SEA-ME-WE-5 a lot had problems.

He said that due to the disconnection of SEA-ME-5 cable, the total bandwidth usage of the country is being affected by 20 percent. In the meantime, some bandwidth support is being provided with SEA-ME-WE-4. It has 3800 Gbps bandwidth. And ITC has 3500 Gbps. The total bandwidth demand in the country is 5200 Gbps. Emergency issues are now being addressed with ITC and SEA-ME-4.

Meanwhile, on Saturday (April 20), General Manager (Operation and Maintenance) of Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC, Saidur Rahman, said in a notice that, the authority expressed regret for the temporary inconvenience caused to the customers; he also informed that the Internet speed may be slow until the SEA-ME-WE-5 submarine cable is repaired and operational.