Bangladesh relies on two submarine cables, internet price to drop 50 percent with new connection
Bangladesh remains dependent mainly on two government submarine cables — SMW-4 and SMW-5 — even as neighbouring countries connect one after another to double-digit numbers of international submarine cables. India has 19, Malaysia 23, Thailand 12 and the Philippines 19 international submarine cable connections, while Bangladesh remains stuck with only two. This gap between limited capacity and growing demand has raised concern, with sector stakeholders saying the country's digital economy could face major obstacles in the coming decade if new connections are not added on time. They believe new submarine cables would raise the country's internet usage rate by 20-30 percent, which could bring down internet prices by up to 50 percent.