Bangladesh will celebrate two decades of high-speed internet and digital transformation on May 21, marking the 20th anniversary of the country’s first submarine cable, SEA-ME-WE 4, inaugurated in 2006 at Cox’s Bazar by then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. The Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCCPLC) reaffirmed its pledge to safeguard national data infrastructure and digital sovereignty on this milestone occasion.

Before 2005, Bangladesh’s international communication relied entirely on satellites, resulting in slow internet speeds and high costs. The launch of SEA-ME-WE 4 connected Bangladesh to a global network stretching from Singapore to France, initially offering 22 Gbps capacity. Through successive upgrades, the cable’s capacity has reached about 4,650 Gbps by 2024. The project spurred rapid growth in freelancing, e-commerce, mobile banking, and digital public services across the country.

Following the success of SEA-ME-WE 4, the second cable SEA-ME-WE 5 was launched in 2017, and the third, SEA-ME-WE 6, is nearing completion. Together, these systems will raise total capacity to about 38 Tbps, exceeding projected national demand for 2027. BSCCPLC has also initiated plans for a fourth cable to further strengthen Bangladesh’s digital infrastructure.