Staff Reporter:

The country’s first submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE-4) at Cox’s Bazar will be partially closed for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm on Saturday (July 13) for maintenance work. This may result in slow internet across the country throughout the day.

Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC) informed in a notification on Friday (July 13) afternoon.

The notification states that the circuits connected through the cable will be partially closed for about 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm on July 13 for maintenance work undertaken by the Consortium at the Singapore end of the Submarine Cable (SEA-ME-WE-4) system. Due to this, uninterrupted internet service may be disrupted in different parts of the country.

BSCPLC expressed regret for the temporary inconvenience to the customers. However, at this time, the second submarine cable of the country (SEA-ME-WE-5) will be operational as usual, the notification also said.

Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC) is a member of two international submarine cable consortiums (companies) named SEA-ME-WE-4 and SEA-ME-WE-5, which ensures greater capacity and adequacy of submarine cables in Bangladesh.

Currently, internet and international voice traffic for Bangladesh is running through both SEA-ME-WE-4 and SEA-ME-WE-5 cables.

Bangladesh was connected to the first submarine cable in 2006 with its landing station at Cox’s Bazar which provides around 800 Gbps bandwidth.

Besides, the country’s second submarine cable SEA-ME-WE-5 has entered through Kuakata in Patuakhali, where 1,600 Gbps bandwidth is provided.