Bangladesh Plans Private Subsea Cable Market Opening

Ismail Hossain, The Financial Express
September 7, 2026

Bangladesh is preparing regulatory amendments that would open licensing for new submarine cable systems to more private and international investment, according to a September 7 report by The Financial Express. The proposed framework would permit international-local partnerships and could move the country beyond a predominantly state-led connectivity model. Rehan Asif Asad, adviser to the prime minister for ICT, telecommunications, science and technology, said he wants the amended rules finalized within four weeks. The government has not yet enacted the changes, making that four-week target the next stated policy milestone.

The proposal arrives while Bangladesh's first major private cable initiative remains delayed. Summit Communications, CdNet Communications and Metacore Subcom received submarine cable licenses in 2022 and later combined their plans through the Bangladesh Private Cable System consortium. BPCS is planning at least 45 Tbps of capacity through a branch landing at Cox's Bazar. The Financial Express reported that roughly US$53 million had been invested by April, but outstanding regulatory approvals and vessel clearances continue to hold up deployment. That gap between licensing and construction gives the planned reform an immediate practical test.

Bangladesh currently receives state-operated submarine connectivity through SEA-ME-WE-4 and SEA-ME-WE-5, both managed by Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC. SEA-ME-WE-6 is expected to add approximately 30 Tbps when it enters service, while Asad said national demand could rise beyond 50 Tbps by 2030 as artificial intelligence, cloud services and data-center investment expand. Metacore Subcom chief executive Mohammad Aminul Hakim argued that additional competition could lower bandwidth prices and improve service quality. Those expected benefits remain industry projections rather than confirmed outcomes of the proposed policy.

For cable owners and investors, the change could create new routes into a market seeking more international capacity, redundancy and landing diversity, but implementation will matter as much as market access. The government must translate the announced direction into workable licensing amendments and predictable deployment approvals. Its immediate commitment is to finalize the framework within four weeks. Separately, BPCS still requires resolution of its cable-laying vessel clearances before construction can advance, so the consortium's progress will provide an early measure of whether the opening produces deployable infrastructure rather than licenses alone.

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