Bangladesh faces bandwidth shortage risk as demand nears 27 Tbps by 2028

Bangladesh could face an international bandwidth shortage by 2028 unless decisions on new submarine cable connections are made soon, industry stakeholders warned at a Dhaka workshop.

International bandwidth use is about 13.5 terabits per second (Tbps) and is projected to reach 19.1 Tbps in 2027 and nearly 27 Tbps in 2028. Demand could rise to 54 Tbps by 2030, according to data presented at the event.

Bangladesh relies mainly on two government-owned submarine cables with capacities of 4.6 Tbps and 2.5 Tbps. Additional demand is met through International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) operators.

Stakeholders said proposed privately owned submarine cables could add about 51 Tbps, raising total capacity to roughly 67 Tbps. They said new cables take years to plan, finance, build, and commission, making early investment decisions critical to avoiding future shortages.