Submarine cable repair shifted to Oct 22

Maintenance work of country’s first international submarine cable has been shifted to October 22, but the overhauling would not pose any internet disruption, said officials.

“Now the maintenance work would begin on October 22 and run for the next three days,” Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) Managing Director Mashiur Rahman told BSS today.

He said there is no possibility of internet disruption during the repair work as Bangladesh has already been connected with its second undersea cable SE-ME-WE-5.

“We’ve arranged the alternative transit for IIGs (International Internet Gateways) while the IPLCs (International Private Leased Circuits) have secured bandwidth from second submarine cable,” revealed Mashiur.

The BSCCL managing director, however, said some sites may face slow traffic for using alternative routes during the repair.

The submarine cable SEA-ME-WE-4, a consortium of 16 telecommunications companies, was scheduled to start the overhauling work under the Bay of Bengal on October 6 for three days for the first time of the cable’s 12-year history, but it has been rescheduled due to necessary preparation.

The second submarine cable which has a total capacity of 1500 Gbps has been launched commercially from September this year. Besides, the first cable has a capacity of nearly 300 Gbps bandwidth.

At present, Bangladesh uses about 450 Gbps bandwidth, of which the BSCCL is providing 250 Gbps and the remaining bandwidth is being imported through six international terrestrial (ITC) cables.

Sumon Ahmed Sabir, Chief Strategic Officer of fiber@home, an ITC company, earlier told BSS that internet connectivity would not be disrupted if the BSCCL can provide bandwidth from the second cable and handle the shifting efficiently.

Besides, the ITCs could also ensure back up if there is necessity, “but for this they (ITCs) have to take preparation”, he added.

Source: BSS