Bangladesh could face a major infrastructure challenge in its internet sector as decisions on new submarine cable connections remain unresolved despite rapidly rising demand for international bandwidth. Speakers raised the concern on Monday at a workshop near Dhaka organised by the Telecom and Technology Reporters Association of Bangladesh on protecting digital sovereignty and meeting future bandwidth needs.

International bandwidth use rose from 50 Gbps in 2013 to nearly 13.5 Tbps in 2026, an increase of about 260 times in 13 years, participants said. Demand is projected to reach 19.1 Tbps in 2027, 54 Tbps in 2030 and 432 Tbps in 2036, driven by video streaming, cloud services, data centres, AI, online education, digital payments and industrial digitalisation.

Bangladesh currently relies mainly on two state-run cables, SEA-ME-WE-4 and SEA-ME-WE-5, with capacities of 4.6 Tbps and 2.5 Tbps respectively; remaining bandwidth is imported through international terrestrial cables. Metacore Subcom CEO Mohammad Aminul Hakim said private cable connectivity could reduce internet prices by 50 percent and improve service quality. Experts said cable planning, financing and construction take years, making early decisions essential.