Bangladesh telephone board is struggling hard to keep overseas call and internet services uninterrupted as its Dhaka–Cox’s Bazar fibre optic network linked to the SEA-ME-WE4 undersea cable often gets severed.
Around 80 telecoms firms, including mobile and private landline operators and internet service providers which bought bandwidth from the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, have suffered heavily as the fibre-optic cable was severed several times in a few
months.We are worried about frequent cable cuts as our clients suffer because of this,’ said an official of the telephone board on Sunday.
The officials said the board could keep its overseas calls and internet services operational for corporate clients with the satellite backup in case of any disruption in its fibre-optic cable network.
They said the board failed to provide telecoms outlets, which bought bandwidth from the telephone board, with backup connectivity in case of disruption in the fibre-optic network because of capacity constraints of the board’s satellite system.
This forces telecoms firms to maintain their own VSAT system to provide communications facilities for their clients, they said.
The board’s Dhaka–Chitta-gong–Cox’s Bazar fibre-optic cable, which carries a huge bandwidth data to the international network, has been severed at least for five times since August. The cable has been cut for about 30 times since 2005.
In the latest incident, the internet connectivity and overseas call services were partially suspended from Friday night
to Saturday noon as the fibre-optic cable was severed at two places on the Feni–Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar–Chittagong routes.
The telephone board officials said it took several hours for the technical team of the state-owned organisation to reach the places and fix the cable to resume the services. They said most of such incidents took place in remote areas.
The officials said the board’s underground fibre-optic network between Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar is often severed by the Roads and Highways Department and other agencies during maintenance work and by cable thieves, resulting in frequent service disruptions.
But the officials believed the motive behind recent such incidents was simple stealing.
‘Petty thieves cut the cable into pieces and sell them despite the fact that such fibre optic cable does not have any resale value as copper wires have,’ said an official. ‘We have not so far established any link of such incidents to any act of sabotage.’
When asked what measures the board has taken to address the situation, the board chairman, Anwarul Azim, declined comments. He said he was not authorised to talk about the matter.
Sources said the board was going to strike a deal with the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh soon to take on lease the company’s Dhaka–Chitta-gong–Cox’s Bazar fibre-optic cable for backup support.
The board will need to pay Tk 20 crore to the Power Grid Company to use the cable for five years, the board officials said.