By TSA Newsfeed

The Bangladesh government has reduced the tariffs for

submarine cable capacity by an average of 20 percent to boost usage of the multi-million dollar cable and raise Internet connectivity across the country.

The

charges for an annual leased 2-Mbps Internet access will now be 1.44-million taka (US$20,571), down from 1.92-million taka (US$27,428).

The government hopes

that the price reduction will result in a three-fold increase in Internet users in Bangladesh, which has one of the lowest Internet user rates in the

world.

“The government has reduced the rate on the plea by the internet service providers (ISPs). The ISPs have said that high submarine tariff rates are

responsible for low Internet penetration in the country,” a telecom ministry official said.

“We hope the low rate would make Internet services cheaper all

over the country and ensure maximum utilization of the cable,” he added.