Bangladesh surpasses 4Tbps supply after Starlink integration, market reforms

Bangladesh has reached a new milestone in international bandwidth delivery, surpassing 4 terabytes per second (Tbps) in real-time internet traffic through state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable PLC (BSCPLC).

On Saturday, a statement from the Chief Advisor’s Office described the achievement as a major step forward for the publicly listed operator.

This breakthrough follows the commercial launch of Starlink-based satellite internet in July, which added 200Gbps to the network.

Previously, on Apr 28, BSCPLC had crossed the 3Tbps mark. It took only three months to add another terabyte, compared to the previous increase of 1.10Tbps over eight months.

The latest jump reflects over 105 percent growth in supply within a single year, attributed to the current government, which reversed the under-utilisation seen during the previous Awami League term when more than 65 percent of BSCPLC’s capacity remained idle.

The progress was credited to strategic policy support from the telecom ministry, internal management efforts, and two rounds of bandwidth price reductions. As a result, BSCPLC has significantly increased its market share and revenue.

Following recent changes in BTRC’s licensing guidelines, all IIG operators are now required to source at least 50 percent of their bandwidth from submarine connections, part of a move to reduce overreliance on India. BSCPLC has started offering additional discounts to customers meeting that threshold.

New internet packages have also been introduced for data centres, cloud providers, and hyperscale clients, beyond the existing bulk discount plans.

The government has finalised its agreement to join the revised route of the SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable, recently approved by the planning body ECNEC. This will add another 17Tbps to BSCPLC’s real-time internet capacity upon completion.