Internet services in Bangladesh face partial disruption as SMW-5 submarine cable snaps

Internet services in Bangladesh are facing partial disruption as the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) submarine cable, installed in Kuakata, snapped last night.

“All traffics to Kuakata-Singapore direction have remained shut as SMW-5 submarine cable suddenly snapped near Singapore at midnight of Friday disrupting bandwidth supply to Bangladesh,” said a press release of Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC).

Repair work is progressing fast and it will take two or three days to restore the connection, it said.

The SMW5 submarine cable installed in Kuakata supplies 1,700GBPS.

However, bandwidth supply continues from the first submarine cable, SEA-ME-WE 4, installed in Cox’s Bazar.

The SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) is a 20,000km submarine cable system connecting 17 countries through Points-of-Presence (POPs) from Singapore to the Middle East to France and Italy in Western Europe. The SEA-ME-WE 5 consortium consists of 19 leading telecom operators, including BSCPLC.

The SEA-ME-WE 4 (SMW4) is an approximately 18,800 km submarine cable connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and France.

The SMW4 Consortium comprises 16 telecom operators, including BSCPLC. (BSS)