Third submarine cable approved by Government of Bangladesh
December 2, 2020 
The government on Tuesday approved a project proposal for the third submarine cable connection, SEA-ME-WE-6, at a cost of Tk 693.16 crore.
The approval was given in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina chaired meeting virtually from the Ganabhaban.
The meeting approved three other revised projects with an overall cost of Tk 2,115.20 crore.
General Economics Division member Shamsul Alam while briefing reporters said that the project to connect with a third submarine cable is aimed at expanding the country’s telecommunication system.
According to the project proposal, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, under the telecommunications ministry, will install the cable to connect with the proposed South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe-6 submarine cable by June 2024.
The SEA-ME-WE-6 submarine cable will run from Singapore to France, extending to the Mediterranean Sea through the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Red Sea.
The cable will have core landing stations in Singapore, India, Djibouti, Egypt and France.
The Bangladesh branch will stretch to the cable landing station in Cox’s Bazar through the Bay of Bengal.
Planning commission officials said that the country would receive a high bandwidth — around six terabits per second —to expand internet and telecommunications services.
They hoped that the additional bandwidth could be exported.
Bangladesh first got connected with the SEA-ME-WE-4 in 2005 and the second, SEA-ME-WE-5, in 2017.
The lifespan of the first submarine cable is 20 years, which will end in 2025.
