Bhutan_ Saudi Arabia wants to import bandwidth from Bangladesh

Bhutan and Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in importing broadband internet from Bangladesh_ thus Bangladesh s bid to export its surplus internet bandwidth got further momentum.

Rinchen Kuentsyl_ Bhutan s ambassador to Bangladesh and Mustafa Jabbar_ yesterday conveyed the landlocked nation s interest in bringing in bandwidth from Bangladesh in a meeting with the post_ telecommunication and information technology minister.

At the meeting_ Jabbar assured of providing all possible assistance for the export of broadband internet bandwidth to Bhutan.

During the meeting_ they discussed various issues of mutual interest_ especially technical and commercial issues in the field of telecommunication_ including the Internet.

Later Mustafa Jabbar told_ Saudi Arabia has shown interest in importing about 600 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bandwidth from Bangladesh. He said_  We have enough bandwidth that we can give to Saudi Arabia and Bhutan. Bhutan is a landlocked country_ so it has no option to set up a submarine cable.

Currently_ Bhutan is importing bandwidth from India_ but as India is charging too high a price Bhutan has turned to Bangladesh_ according to Jabbar.

India already taken 10 Gbps for the Northeastern state of Tripura through the Akhaura-Agartala point_ he said_ adding that Nepal might also take bandwidth from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh would not be able to export bandwidth for long given the rapid pace at which demand is increasing at home_ Jabbar said.

At present_ Bangladesh is using about 2_100 Gbps against the capacity of about 2_800 Gbps.

Thanks to the two submarine cables_ Bangladesh has a bandwidth storage capacity of 2_800 Gbps_ according to the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company. The third submarine cable in June 2024 will add another 7_200 Gbps.

 We must keep some buffer so that Bangladesh does not face a bandwidth crisis_ Mustafa Jabbar added.