State-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC) has reportedly decided to slash its wholesale bandwidth prices by 10% in a bit to make internet access in Bangladesh more affordable.
According to the Daily Star newspaper, BSCPLC disclosed the price cut to the government on Sunday following a board meeting on Saturday where the decision was made.
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the Chief Adviser on Posts, Telecommunications, and ICT Affairs, said the 10% price cut “will apply to all bandwidth at the international gateway level,” according to the report.
Taiyeb said that reducing wholesale bandwidth prices is “one of the key steps to bring consumer internet access prices down,” adding that telcos are expected to lower internet access prices by the same percentage, the report said.
Meanwhile, Taiyeb said the government is in discussions to give mobile operators access to DWDM facilities, which he claimed could reduce transmission costs by as much as 39%, the report added.
BSCPLC currently offers international capacity on the SEA-ME-WE 4 and SEA-ME-WE 5 subsea cables as a co-owner of both systems. It also owns a stake in the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable, which is slated to be ready for service in the first quarter of 2026.