A STITCH IN TIME

Now that Bangladesh is connected to the submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE4) link to Internet, it is facing a new logistics challenge. According to this petition:

From the network risk prospective, SEA-ME-WE4 is a single-point of failure which can take the entire nation down as she becomes dependent on it’s virtues. This is why it is absolutely vital for Bangladesh government to take pre-emptive steps to get onboard with the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) consortium.

The AAG consortium represents a new undersea cable infrastructure that will provide Bangladesh with the ability to mitigate the single-point-of-failure risks associated with the SEA-ME-WE4 cable infrastructure. The AAG cable will connect Asia to the US from Malaysia to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US. It’s branches will also connect Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam.

The BTTB has recently turned down a low cost expansion offer of the existing capacity of SEA-ME-WE4. I doubt they will pay heed to this petition.

Update: According to the Daily Star, an anonymous BTTB official commented that political commitment is necessary to make it happen and there are vital time consuming issues like getting finance from International Finance Institutions and negotiating with AAG. Now who is to bell the cat?