Steps taken to limit dependence on India for internet

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has announced new policies to reduce Bangladesh's internet sector’s dependence on India and bring balance to bandwidth imports.

From March 1, International Internet Gateway (IIG) companies in Bangladesh will not be able to import more than 50 percent of their bandwidth from India.

Currently, about 60 percent of internet used in Bangladesh is imported from India; which is transmitted through International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) companies. However, the BTRC wants to limit this rate through the new decision. At the same time, it wants to ensure maximum use of domestic infrastructure.

BTRC Chairman Emdad-ul-Bari said in the future, there is a plan to further reduce the bandwidth import from India to 30 percent. At the same time, the target is to increase the supply from submarine cables through Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC) to 60 percent.

Under the new guidelines, IIG operators will be able to use satellite earth stations, or VSATs, up to 10 percent of their total bandwidth as backup capacity, until an alternative ILDC route is available. In such a case, prior approval from BTRC is mandatory.

In addition, even though ITC operators were doing business by importing bandwidth through submarine cables, the government was getting less revenue, because the revenue sharing rate from submarine cables was 3 percent, but for ITC operators it was only 1 percent.

According to internet market analysts, as per the new policy issued by BTRC, reducing the import of bandwidth from India through international terrestrial cables will save the country $12 million annually. At the same time, the government's revenue sharing income will increase by about Tk 10.8 crore.

Analysts say that while big content providers like Facebook, Google, Akamai and YouTube have been doing business in Bangladesh for a long time by paying taxes to India, this trend will gradually decrease in the future. As a result of the new policy, multinational internet service providers will also have to focus on setting up their data centres in Bangladesh.

BTRC is also aiming to improve the country's internet infrastructure and strengthen strategic security.