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The BSCCL has sold 1,600 Gbps of bandwidth, while the sale of an additional 40Gbps is in the pipeline
The Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) is gearing up to sell more bandwidth as internet usage soars amid the lockdown.
“We had a target of selling 1,450 Gbps by June, but we have already achieved that,” said the Managing Director of BSCCL Mashiur Rahman.
The BSCCL has sold 1,600 Gbps of bandwidth, while the sale of an additional 40Gbps is in the pipeline, he said, adding that by the end of May, around 60Gbps more will be sold.
About 2,600-2,700Gbps of bandwidth is currently being used in the country, of which 1,600Gbps is being provided by BSCCL.
The rest comes from India through International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) operators such as Summit Communications and Fibre@Home.
BSCCL has 2,800Gbps of capacity from its two submarine cables.
According to industry insiders, as people are staying at home amid the lockdown the usage of internet, especially social media and video sites like Facebook and YouTube, has gone up.
Last week, the usage of bandwidth went up by 200Gbps, they said.
The figure comprises 60% bandwidth given by the internet service providers (ISPs), and the remaining 40% by mobile operators.
Although the usage of bandwidth increased last week, no noticeable change has been seen this week. But the usage of Facebook has increased by about 70% this week, internet operators told.
“Among all content, Facebook users are more likely to watch viral videos. Besides, any viral topics, update of the coronavirus situation and lockdown also works to increase the percentage,” said Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) President MA Hakim.
The usage of YouTube has also increased by 10%, he added.
Sumon Ahmed Sabir, Chief Technology Officer of Fibre@Home, said the usage of their bandwidth has increased by about 25-30% than usual.
“We have capacity for around 350Gbps. Before lockdown, our bandwidth usage reached 260Gbps, but after lockdown it has reached 300Gbps.”
“If the bandwidth usage keeps increasing at this rate, we won’t be able to provide bandwidth to ISPs within the next 15 days. So, we need to buy more bandwidth and we have already applied for it,” he added.
Before March last year, bandwidth usage ranged from 1,050 to 1,100Gbps. When the lockdown started, it increased to 1,400Gbps during the month of April.
Later it surpassed 2,000 Gbps.
(DT)
