Indian co keen to buy bandwidth for Bhutan
To meet up the interest, Bangladesh has already sent a price quotation to the PGCIL for per megabit (MB) of bandwidth
BSS
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) is keen to buy bandwidth from Bangladesh to provide it to Bhutan, as the landlocked Eastern Himalayan country needs redundancy of internet connectivity,reports BSS.
To meet up their interest, Bangladesh has already sent a price quotation to the PGCIL for per megabit (MB) of bandwidth.
Talking to the news agency, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) Managing Director Monwar Hossain said initially they have shown internet to buy 2.5 gbps bandwidth.
Weve sent a price quotation to them (PGCIL) which is bit higher than we are providing to BNSL, he said.
Replying to a query on pricing, Monwar said: For 2.5 gbps, we would charge $ 15 for per megabit (MB) of bandwidth while $ 9 if they take 10 gbps.
The BSSCL managing director said the PGCIL has wanted to buy bandwidth on Singapore-Coxs Bazar-Dhaka-Comilla-Brahmanbaria-Akhaura-Agartola routes.
However, the state-owned (BSCCL), the assigned organisation to handle the bandwidth of Bangladesh, had proposed for selling bandwidth on Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil-Shillong-Guwahati-Bhutan routes, as it would bring more scope to Bangladesh to share bandwidth with Meghalaya, Guwahati and Arakan.
But, the PGCIL wants bandwidth immediately that is why they will go for Singapore-Coxs Bazar-Dhaka-Comilla-Brahmanbaria-Akhaura-Agartola routes, added Monwar.
The South Asian landlocked country Bhutan has taken the move to establish a third international link to the internet. It currently has only two links to the internet, one through Gelephu and the other through Phuents-holing.
But, both converge in the Indian city of Siliguri, which means Bhutan lacks true redundancy or back up connectivity to the internet.
Bangladesh has started exporting 10 gbps bandwidth to India in March last year. Now, India wants to make it double.
Bangladesh has now over 200 gbps bandwidth and meeting the domestic demand, it has the capacity to export bandwidth up to 50 gbps. Currently, Bangladesh is consuming only 33 percent of the total bandwidth and the demand for bandwidth may reach at 210 gbps by 2021.
Besides, Bangladesh has connected with second undersea cable last month to get another 1500 gbps bandwidth. Since the lifetime of Bangladeshs first submarine cable will end within the next 12 years, there is no other alternative to exporting bandwidth.
