Internet disruption may continue for a week

The internet disruption, which began on late Friday, may prolong for at least one week, official sources said.
Internet users have been facing disruption as Bangladesh's second submarine cable SEA-ME-WE 5, the largest supplier of the international bandwidth to the country, broke on Friday night.
"We aren't sure how long it would take to restore the submarine cable in the sea. It would take at least one week," said Mirza Kamal Ahmed, managing director (additional charge) of the Bangladesh Submarine Cable PLC.
After the cable damage, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable now runs on one third of its capacity, he says.
Mr Ahmed says a special purpose ship, which is vital for the restoration of the undersea cable, will come to restore the damaged cable.
"The submarine cable company along with other consortium members is in agreement with such a ship."
"We've already contacted the ship. They'll review the situation and let us know the estimated time for restoration of the cable," he told the FE.
The MD also said the undersea cable of the SEA-ME-WE 5 got broken in a spot between Singapore and Indonesia.
"A total of 17 countries have been affected by the damage to the cable."
The high official also says that they are trying to bring back maximum capacity by shifting capacity to SEA-ME-WE 4.
The international bandwidth usage in Bangladesh now stands at around 5,200GBPS.
More than half of it -- about 2,700 Gbps -- comes through international terrestrial cable (ITC) licence holders that import bandwidth from India across land border.
The South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) submarine cable installed in Kuakata supplies 1,700GBPS.
Originally providing approximately 800 Gbps, the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable has recently undergone upgrades, now capable of supplying 3,800 Gbps.
Furthermore, Bangladesh is poised to receive 13,200 Gbps from a third submarine cable, SEA-ME-WE 6, by 2025.

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