Saga of Betbunia satellite station

Even a couple of months ago many people would give a deadpan expression with the mention of Betbunia. Apparently, they did not know that the country's first-ever satellite earth station was situated there. And also that it was due to its antenna people in Bangladesh were able to watch a historic boxing bout. It was fought between great Muhammad Ali and George Foreman and telecast live on BTV. That was back in 1974. The broadcast was thus black-and-white. But news is it was the country's maiden live telecast of an event from abroad.

Betbunia in Rangamati is the site of the first satellite earth station of the country. It is painful that its name has veritably been erased from the memory of many. Even internet searches proved futile a year ago. There were no pieces of information about the satellite station, its importance to the nation and also about its present state. Had it not for its becoming one of the two ground control stations receiving signals from the geostationary satellite Bangabandhu-1, Betbunia would have been consigned to a kind of national oblivion.

That the satellite earth station has found a prominent place in the country's orbital telecommunication and mapping from space delights a lot of people. They include especially those who were able to watch the live telecast of Ali-Foreman fight on BTV through the Betbunia earth station.

Shafiqul Bashar

Agargaon, Dhaka