The Bangladesh government is firmly committed to a program of continuous development for IT and telecommunications infrastructure including the underlying communications backbone. To support the cluster activity of the existing IT industry, as well as to provide opportunities for the new investor, the government is establishing a dedicated ICT Park. The objective is to create a business environment that is conducive to the IT industry, complete with infrastructure and environmental management facilities.

Internet Connectivity and Service

Bangladesh has committed an investment programme to upgrade the infrastructure for the IT industry. As a result of this upgrade program, high-speed internet connectivity through fibre optic cables is now readily available and competitively priced. There are over 150 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country and the competition among ISPs has resulted in a significant improvement in their services.

In addition, the newly installed SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine connectivity (10 GBPS) has provided the software and ICT service sector with high-speed data and voice connectivity. Currently, all the major cities are now connected through the high speed fiber optic backbone. In addition, all parts of the country have internet accessibility provided by the ‘last mile connectivity’, through wireless technology. All of this provides a high speed satellite link and enhanced connectivity for data communication. To further strengthen the network, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has recently invited proposals to develop, install and operate a new submarine cable from 2009.

• Broadband – Broadband is now available through cable in the metropolitan cities of Dhaka, Chittagong & Sylhet. It is now available through wireless as part of the government license project which offers Wireless Broadband Access services. In addition, mobile/cellular operators also offer high speed internet connection through EDGE technology.
• For a dedicated broadband line, the current minimum speed per subscriber is 128 kbps, increasing to 10 to 15 times for corporate customers. Earlier broadband service was provided using VSAT. Now it is increasingly provided by the submarine cable (SEA–ME-EU4), which has considerably enhanced speed and reliability, offering an internet bandwidth of 24 GB. The government is already in the process of facilitating an additional submarine cable (through private sector investment); this will result in an even faster broadband service, together with a considerable reduction in cost.
• International gateway – International Gateway (IGW) exchange is the telecommunications switch that forms the gateway between the national telephone network and one or more international gateway exchanges, thus providing cross-border connectivity. As a result, overseas incoming calls are received by the IGW operators and then connected to mobile and landline networks. In Bangladesh, IGW operators are established to stop illegal call termination through VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). This has considerably reduced the cost of international communication as well as improving voice quality, which is a necessary requirement for establishing contact centres and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.
• ICX – Interconnection Exchange service is a mutual carrier of telecoms traffic for two or more networks. This lowers the infrastructure cost for connecting operators and facilitates competition among telephone networks. From the customer point of view ICX decreases the unit charge and therefore attract additional customers to internet and mobile connection.
• New operators are encouraged to enter the market and offer enhanced telecom services. For IT industry in Bangladesh, this will (i) promote increased internet usage throughout Bangladesh (ii) introduce customized telecommunication service (software based) such as news, weather update, telemedicine, telebanking etc. This particular sector of the software industry is already growing in Bangladesh and is expected to develop further as the ICX is introduced.
• IIG – International Internet Gateway (IIG) is a system that works to exchange international internet-based data traffic, in addition to working as a national internet exchange (NIX) for exchanging national internet–based data traffic. This increases speed, reliability and quality of the internet services for the ISPs. For the IT industry, this will ensure better internet connectivity at lower cost and therefore strengthen and support web-related software development.