Bangladesh experiences widespread internet slowdowns following second submarine cable outage
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Internet connectivity across Bangladesh, including the capital, experienced significant slowdowns on Saturday due to a disruption in the country’s second submarine cable.
The Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC) reported that the SEA-ME-WE-5 submarine cable, which connects via Kuakata, was completely offline for approximately two and a half hours. The outage began at 11:30 a.m. and lasted until services were restored at 2:00 p.m. During this window, both the eastern and western segments of the cable connection were non-functional.
Preliminary assessments suggest the technical fault may have originated at the SMW-5 landing station or associated infrastructure in Matara, a coastal city in southern Sri Lanka. However, officials stated that the precise location and exact cause of the failure remain under investigation.
BSCPLC officials confirmed that while international bandwidth was rerouted through alternative paths to mitigate the impact, the transition caused noticeable latency for users in various parts of the country.
A senior official from the state-owned entity downplayed the severity of the incident, noting that the disruption was limited to a technical glitch and that service returned to normal levels shortly after the repairs were completed. The official maintained that the overall impact on national internet traffic remained minimal.
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