Bonikbarta Exclusive

Internet supply was utterly dysfunctional in the country for five days. Although broadband supply resumed Tuesday (July 23) night, it was in a limited capacity. Mobile internet service could not be restored. Regarding the internet supply disruption, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) informed via SMS last Saturday through the media wing that restoration work for the damaged data center and operational lines in Mohakhali, Dhaka, is ongoing, which will require more time to repair.

Talking to the ICT experts, it is known that there is no possibility of an internet blackout in the whole country, even if there is a fire incident in one or two buildings or in one area of ​​the country. Network systems work in different modules. It includes modules like Ring Topology, Star Topology, Hub, and Spoke Topology. When one connection of these modules is closed, the other connections remain active. Due to this, even if a fire breaks out in a building or an area, only that building or area will have problems. Other connections will remain active.

Mobile operators have said that “considering the current situation in the country, the government has temporarily suspended internet services. The resumption of mobile internet services depends on the government's decision. We are in constant communication with the authorities regarding this matter.”

While operators have mentioned the government’s decision to suspend internet services, they have not cited infrastructure-related issues as the cause for the disruption. When asked for official comments on the matter, telecom operators refused any formal statements. However, several officials have indicated that there are no infrastructure-related issues affecting the operators' internet supply.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) and six International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) companies are responsible for connecting Bangladesh to the global Internet system. Of this, BSCCL brings 50 percent. Six ITC operators bring the remaining 50 percent. Internet bandwidth imported through these companies is managed through their subscriber operators within the country. These operator companies are known as International Internet Gateway (IIG), Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN), International Gateways (IGW), Telecom Operators, and Internet Service Providers (ISP) according to the type of work.

According to BSCCL sources, the company has 184 network operator companies as customers. Among the primary customers are Summit Communication Limited, Amra Technologies Limited, BD Hub Limited, BTCL, Earth Telecommunication Limited, Fiber at Home, i-Tel Limited, Level Three Carrier Limited, Max Hub Limited, Optimax Communication Limited, Pyrex Network, Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. Major operators include Dhaka Colo, Colo City, NRB offices in Mohakhali area. Besides, some other operators' offices and data centers are in this area. The BSCCL office is located on Tejgaon-Gulshan Link Road.

Offices and data centers for most of these operators have been set up in the Gulshan, Tejgaon, Banani, and Karwan Bazar areas of the capital. Some companies have set up their data centers outside Dhaka in the Gazipur and Jeshore areas. Besides, telecom operators are providing 2G and 4G services using the same optical fiber cable. During the last few days, 2G (familiar voice and SMS service of telecom operators) services continued.

The Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology has recently claimed that due to the fire in Mohakhali, the data center and transmission lines have been damaged, and there has been a disruption in the internet supply management across the country. It is claimed by various parties that the location of these transmission and data centers is centered on Khawaja Tower and neighboring buildings. Although the ICT experts said the fact that the internet management of the country was stopped due to the burning of the transmission cable and data center in the Mohakhali area is completely unbelievable.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a technology specialist and Dhaka University professor stated, “Currently, internet services are provided mainly through optical fiber cables, a significant portion of which were installed by Railways, PGCB, and Grameenphone. Since the beginning of this century, a large part of these cables has been managed through GSM technology. The same cables used for transmission services are also used to provide FTTH services. Therefore, the government's decision to continue FTTH services while discontinuing GSM services does not imply any issues with transmission cables; the issues lie elsewhere.”

On Monday, it was observed in the Mohakhali area that overhead transmission cables were damaged outside the Disaster Management Department (DMD) building due to a fire incident. These transmission cables belong to internet service providers such as ISI, ITCL, NTTPS, and ISPAB. Operators are currently working on reinstalling these cables. The DMD building is located adjacent to a highly discussed tower building.

Earlier, on October 28 of the previous year, during the state of political unrest surrounding the BNP's grand rally, a fire incident occurred at the Khawaja Tower in Mohakhali on the evening of October 27. Subsequently, discussions first focused on the building. Following the incidents of fire, internet services across the country started to slow down gradually. At that time, both the government and internet service providers stated that incidents of fire in the building had disrupted broadband and internet services in various districts of the country as the building has several data centers and offices of broadband service providers in the country.

On speaking with security guard at Khawaja Tower, it was learned that, at one time, several telecommunications companies were housed in the building. However, following the fire incident in October 2023, many of these establishments suffered damages, and several relocated from here. Now, some new establishments have arrived, and two additional floors are currently vacant and advertised for rent.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, three security guards of the building mentioned that the fire incident occurred in a neighboring disaster management building, not within Khawaja Tower itself. Despite this, everyone is only focusing on Khawaja Tower. In reality, nothing happened within this building. For the past few days, the building has been closed due to security reasons.

Adjacent to Khawaja Tower is the disaster management building where, upon investigation, it is observed that the basement of the building has been scorched by fire. The servers of the disaster management setup on the basement floor have been affected. However, there were no data centers within this building. In front of the building, optical fiber cables of internet providers and satellite operators have been damaged.

When asked, Rezwanur Rahman, the Director General of Disaster Management Directorate told Bonik Barta on Monday, “We don’t have any data center here. Our building has not been rented to any private company. There was no data center here. But we had the disaster management server here. From here, the data of various organizations related to disaster management was stored. But we are not sure if it has a backup. We have made a committee to inquire about the damage. These issues will be known after the committee report.”

Earlier, in a press conference held at the BTRC building on Sunday afternoon, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said, “Government, mobile network operators, ISP operators are not responsible for breaking the network system, identified miscreants are responsible for this.” They have taken the student movement hostage to selectively destroy government buildings and destroy and damage digital cyber and physical infrastructures to disrupt development activities. Restoring the entire ecosystem requires us to fix transmission lines, repair data centers, and deal with technical issues. For this, our engineers have to go physically. We are trying to figure out how quickly we can restore our internet connection and get telecommunications back to normal.

According to BTRC sources, there are currently 30 active International Internet Gateway (IIG) licenses in the country. These institutions have started setting up nationwide PoPs from 2021. ISP operators mainly get internet connection from these PoPs.

Apart from international bandwidth, BTRC has launched the National Internet Exchange (NIX) to increase domestic bandwidth usage. These organizations include Bangladesh Internet Exchange Trust, Novocom Nix Limited, Level three Carrier, Digicon Telecommunication Limited, Summit Communication Limited, etc. Submarine cable and ITC facilities are expected to have their bandwidth shut down, but domestic internet connectivity through NIX is expected to continue. No office or infrastructure of these companies has been damaged.

In a press conference held at BTRC on Sunday, it was also stated that “where the underground cable connects to the pop-up, miscreants have disconnected the internet and dish connection.” 

The last-mile broadband internet connection in Bangladesh is available only in the Dhanmondi area. Previously, underground fiber optic cables provided connectivity in Gulshan, Banani, and Mohakhali DHAs, but they are currently unused. Overhead cable operations are ongoing in these areas. Several entities, such as BTCL, Summit Communications, PGCB, and Bangladesh Railway, have established a nationwide optical fiber network spanning 105,871 kilometers. Approximately 15,222 kilometers of this network are underground cables, the rest being overhead and swapping fibers.

Experts suggest that through these optical fiber cables established by entities like BTCL, Summit Communications, PGCB, and Bangladesh Railway, ISPs and telecom operators such as IIGs, IGWs, ITSC, NIX, and telecom operators provide services. In network disturbance in a specific area, its impact across the country is considered highly improbable.

Dr Aurangzeb Mohammad Abdur Rahman, a professor at the Department of Information and Communication Engineering at Rajshahi University, said, “We are skeptical. We cannot believe the explanations given for the internet outage.”

Similarly, speaking on the condition of anonymity, another technologist remarked, “Even if a data center goes down, there is always a backup in place called a Disaster Recovery Module (DRM). Each data center maintains such backup modules. Even if a data center fails, it could be replaced through DRM. Moreover, there are four-tier data centers in Kaliakoir, Gazipur. Why the National Data Center has not been utilized is also a matter of concern.”