Bangladesh internet to face 80-hour snag as SMW-5 submarine cable undergoes repairs

Users may face slow speeds or partial outages from Thursday night to Monday morning

Internet services across Bangladesh may slow down or face partial disruption for around 80 hours from Thursday night to Monday morning due to maintenance work on the country’s second submarine cable.

Bangladesh Submarine Cables (BSC) PLC said in a media statement on Wednesday that maintenance of the SEA-ME-WE-5 (SMW-5) submarine cable, installed in Kuakata, will begin at 10pm on Thursday, Apr 9, and continue until 6am on Monday, Apr 13.

According to the statement, the SEA-ME-WE-5 consortium has undertaken the S1.5.1 shunt fault repair maintenance activity during this period.

BSC PLC said the ongoing work may disrupt internet services, as circuits routed through this cable towards Singapore will be temporarily affected.

As a result, users may experience slower internet speeds or partial service interruptions.

During the maintenance period, services will continue through the country’s other submarine cable, SEA-ME-WE-4, located in Cox’s Bazar.

Most of Bangladesh’s internet traffic flows through these two government-owned submarine cables.

As a result, disruption in one cable can affect overall internet services nationwide.

A consortium of several private companies had earlier sought approval to install a private submarine cable in the country, but the proposal was not approved during the previous interim government.