Broadband internet service (experimental) will be restored across the country including homes within the night. The State Minister for information and technology Junaid Ahmed Palak said that mobile data will be restored between Monday and Sunday.

He said, broadband internet service will be restored from tonight. Tomorrow (Thursday) will be observed all day. After that the decision will be taken to go full speed ahead. We will work in such a way that the internet can be launched uninterruptedly.

He said these things in a press briefing regarding the restoration of experimental internet at BTRC building in Agargaon on Wednesday (July 24).

Palak said internet services were disrupted due to fire damage caused by miscreants. In this situation we were working to restore internet system as soon as possible. Broadband internet service will be fully available from tonight.

Earlier, Imdadul Haque, the president of ISPAB, an association of internet connection companies, also said that internet connection can be restored at home within the night.

Meanwhile, after five days on Tuesday (July 23) night, broadband internet was restored on a limited basis. However, the mobile internet service is closed. Even with broadband internet, it is not possible to access various social media including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram. There is no clear information about when these will be normal.

Minister of State for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Mr. Junaid Ahmed Palak said that artificial intelligence (AI) will make life easier for people but it is a big threat to civilization.

He said that the government is going to enact laws to deal with the challenges of technology, especially the adverse effects of AI. Also, new broadband policies will be formulated by 2024 to define internet speed of 20 Mbps as broadband and make the internet affordable and accessible.

The State Minister said these things in the speech as the chief guest at the function organized by the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology under the initiative of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2024 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital on Friday (May 17). For the first time in Bangladesh this year, it has been organized with the aim of celebrating the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day with the participants of the public and private sectors of the telecommunication and ICT sector, including the Department of Posts and Telecommunications and the Department of Information Technology.

Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology State Minister highlighted the significance of World Telecommunication and Information Union Day celebration and said that Bangabandhu obtained the membership of ITU in 1973 and included Bangladesh in the world of information and communication technology by establishing Geo satellite Center at Betbuniya despite standing on the ruins of war.

Referring to the World Telecommunication Day on May 17 as a historic day for the national life, the State Minister said, "we would not have had this Bangladesh today if we had not taken the bold and visionary program like the Digital Bangladesh program in 2008 under the plan of the Architect of Digital Bangladesh, Mr. Sajib Wazed." Mr. Palak said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had the foresight to provide Internet connectivity in the country through V-sat, to end the monopoly business of mobile phones by granting licenses to three mobile companies and to bring mobile phones within the reach of common people and to withdraw VAT tax from computers in the financial year 1998-99.

The amazing success of the telecommunication and information technology sector in the past years has made Bangladesh one of the leading countries in the digital world, he said, under the visionary and wise leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the economy of Bangladesh has reached great heights beyond the poverty line. He said, 15 years ago the export income in the IT sector was only 26 million dollars. Currently it stands at 1.9 billion dollars.

Stating that Bangladesh has reached a major milestone in the information technology services (IT) export sector, the State Minister said that 400 establishments in the information technology sector are exporting Bangladesh digital services to 80 countries around the world.

Earlier, the State Minister released commemorative postage stamps on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day and distributed prizes among the winners of the essay and debate competitions organized to celebrate the day.

Later, an active network memorandum was signed between mobile operator Robi and Banglalink in the presence of the State Minister.

Post and Telecommunication Division Secretary Abu Hena Morshed Zaman presided over the event, Information and Communication Technology Division Secretary Md. Samsul Arefin, Post and Telecommunication Division Additional Secretary A, K, M, Amirul Islam, Chairman and CEO of Bangladesh Satellite Company Dr. Shahjahan Mahmud and Chairman of BTRC Engineer Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed spoke. 

Bandwidth supply from the second submarine cable (CMUI-5) has completely stopped due to the cut. As a result, the internet problem in the country has not been solved yet. Customers have suffered for a long time due to slow internet.

The problem is not immediately solved because the cable is not repaired. According to the sources of state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, the bandwidth supply from the second submarine cable was completely stopped due to the cutting of the SIMUI-5 cable in the sea area of Indonesia last Friday night.

An official of Submarine Cable told Barta24.com on condition of anonymity that permission to enter the Indonesian part of the sea has not yet been received. It can take up to three to four weeks to get permission. After that it may take another 8 to 10 days to repair the cut cable. Altogether, it will not be possible to fully deliver the bandwidth from the second submarine cable even in a month.

But in an alternative way they are trying to normalize internet services across the country. So far they expect to meet 40 percent of the bandwidth demand they have received from the first submarine cable in the next 2 to 3 days.

At present 1600 Gbps bandwidth is provided in the country with SIMUI-5. This supply is completely closed. An alternative to the Internet was not yet possible with SIMUI-4 (the first submarine cable). The submarine cable company is working for this. They say it will take 2 to 3 days. During this period they will be able to operate only 40 percent of the internet demand.

Currently there is a demand of 5,500 bandwidth in the country. Of these, submarine cable companies provide more than 2,500 bandwidths. The remaining demand is met by International Terrestrial Cable (ITC). 

Post and Telecommunication Minister of the previous government, Mustafa Jabbar, had pushed for the introduction of 5G services in the country in December 2023.

For this reason, 5G was launched experimentally through Teletalk in December 2021. 6 places including National Parliament, Secretariat came under this facility.

Earlier, in the auction held in March last year, mobile operators bought 190 MHz waves by spending Tk. 10 thousand crore.

There were objections from the operators about launching 5G service at such a fast time. But finally it was not possible to do it before the election because this service cannot be launched without 5G related guidelines.

Currently 3G and 4G services are available in the country. 3G was launched in 2013 and 4G services were launched in 2018. South Korea launched the first 5G service in 2019.

Finally, the 5G guidelines have been finalized almost two years after the wave auction. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) recently finalized it. According to the guidelines, mobile operators have to roll out 5G within the next one year.

From the second year, operators will have to build all kinds of 5G service capabilities. Such as smart city, smart home, intelligent transportation system, smart grid and other new applications have to be launched.

Regulatory body BTRC has launched Unified License. As a result, different licenses for 2G, 3G and 4G, which operators had to obtain, will no longer be required.

The 5G wave auction was held in March 2022. In this, four mobile operators bought a total of 190 MHz waves for Tk. 10 thousand crores. In the wave auction, it was said that they will have to launch 5G services within the next 6 months. But it took two years to prepare the guidelines after the wave auction.

At that time, the mobile operators said that it was not the right time financially for them to launch 5G at that moment. They expressed their concern on various issues including high cost of infrastructure construction, difficult to get customers, non-return of investment money because they were still worried about investment in 4G services.

Those associated with the sector said that we have to change the ecosystem at the beginning of 5G. Towers will require a lot of electricity. To deliver 5G to remote areas, the transmission network should be accessible and active sharing issues should be emphasized. Where the networks are needed, how much the customers will benefit from the 5G service or how the demand will be, these issues need to be seriously considered and prepared.

Those concerned said that while 4G has a minimum speed of 7 Mbps, 5G has a speed of 20 Mbps. It will be used in the industry, not at the individual level.

Meanwhile, experts in the telecommunication sector said that an investment of Tk. 20 to 25 thousand crores will be required to launch 5G. It is difficult for operators to take investment risks as the business sector is not finalized.

But in the meantime, operators do 5G test runs. Even 5G is not yet commercially viable in many countries. According to a report by GSMA, the global association of mobile operators, 5G subscribers will reach 200 crores by 2025.