BPCS consortium signs SLTE supply deal with Nokia

The Bangladesh Private Cable System (BPCS) Consortium has signed an agreement with Nokia for the supply of Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE), marking a significant step forward for the Cox's Bazar-Singapore submarine cable project.

The agreement was signed on Sunday evening at a ceremony held at a city hotel. The deal is seen as a major milestone in the progress of Bangladesh's first private-sector submarine cable initiative.

On behalf of the BPCS Consortium, the agreement was signed by Aminul Hakim, Chief Executive Officer of Metacore Subcom Limited; Arif Al Islam, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Communications Limited; and Md Mashiur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of CData Communications Limited. On the other hand, Prashant Malkani, Head of Sales Unit at Nokia India, and Suman Prasad, Senior Sales Account Director at Nokia represented Nokia.

Also present from Nokia were Jibitesh Nayal, Head of Emerging Business; Rahul Derwani, Marketing Manager; Mohammad R Islam, Account Manager; and Christopher Samuel, Head of Sales, Nokia Bangladesh.

The event was attended by several foreign diplomats, including Michael Miller, Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh; Antti Herlevi, a Finnish diplomat based in India; and representatives from the Japanese Embassy, Daisuke Sukao and Mami Kobayashi.

Officials of the BPCS Consortium said Bangladesh is currently using around 9,000 Gbps of bandwidth and the demand is expected to rise to approximately 20,000 Gbps by mid-2027 and reach nearly 50,000 Gbps by 2030.

To meet this growing demand, the three private submarine cable projects under the consortium have become increasingly essential, according to them.

Entrepreneurs have already invested about Tk 6.0 billion in the project. An additional Tk 12 to 13 billion is planned to be invested to launch three cable pairs after June 2026 under the initiative of the three private companies, they said.

Consortium members also noted that at present more than 60 per cent of international bandwidth comes from India through International Terrestrial Cables (ITC), resulting in a substantial outflow of foreign currency every year.

Once the new three-pair Singapore-Cox's Bazar submarine cable becomes operational, dependence on India is expected to decline, moving Bangladesh closer to self-sufficiency in bandwidth.

According to the consortium, the use of Nokia's technology will allow equipment to operate with lower power consumption and require less physical space, reducing data centre space requirements.

This is expected to make network management easier and lower overall operational costs, they said, adding that as a result, bandwidth prices may fall in the future, leading to reduced internet costs for end users.

Nokia's SLTE will be deployed at both ends of the cable, which, the officials said, will also ensure a high level of cyber security, they added.

bdsmile@gmail.com