Country suffers Tk 120b losses due to disruptions in optical fibre network

---

S M Jahangir
The country has sustained losses to the tune of around Tk 120 billion in terms of business and revenue due to a series of disruptions in the Dhaka-Chittagong optical fibre network by vested groups, sources said.
The Dhaka-Chittagong optical fibre linking the global submarine cable has been cut at least 25 times since its installation in 2005, disrupting the country's communications with the rest of the world for a total of 250 hours.
At least 16 out of such cable cuts were learnt to have taken place as acts of sabotage while the remaining disruptions occurred due to illegal use of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) by operators.
According to the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), the government had to incur revenue losses amounting to US$ 70,000 for one hour of communication disruption.
The BTTB sources, however, said the country's telecommunication with the rest of the world remained suspended up to 72 hours because of a single incident of cable cut.
Taking the country's huge losses into account, the authorities have already taken steps to stop such damaging acts happening again.
Adequate vigilance and security teams have already been deployed to prevent the acts of cable cuts, official sources said.
Apart from such preventive measures, the BTTB is also considering installing an alternative cable line with the existing Dhaka-Chittagong optical fibre in order to keep the country's telecommunications systems uninterrupted.
A group of experts are brainstorming on the possibility of setting up a separate cable line, an official source said.
"The main purpose of installing an alternative optical fibre line is to ensure an uninterrupted communication system even if the existing cable faces disruption," said the official.
However, the authorities of the BTTB has already held a meeting with all other stakeholders - both in the private and public sectors - to find a way out for preventing such untoward disruption in telecommunication, sources said.
Representatives from private mobile and land-mobile operators, state-run power agencies namely the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and Rural Electrification Board (REB) were present at the meeting.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of using their unused fibre optic cables in case of any untoward communication disruption.
The PGCB, however, had agreed to lease out its fibre optic cable to the BTTB, sources said.
The Bangla Phone Limited (BPL), a private land phone operator, also expressed its intention to swap its cable network with BTTB's existing fibre cable line free of cost.
But, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) imposed a restriction that the BTTB could not use the BPL's cable without prior permission of the Commission, sources said.
They further said the authorities are considering all the possible options for keeping the country's links uninterrupted with the help of global submarine cable.