BTRC Rejects India’s Bandwidth Proposal via Bangladesh to Seven Sisters

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has rejected a proposal to extend bandwidth to seven northeastern states of India via Bangladesh. Sources confirmed that this decision was made recently. The initiative, a joint effort by the country's two International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) companies, Summit Communications and Fiber at Home, along with Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel, was launched during the Awami League government and had made significant progress at the time. Bharti Airtel had applied to the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, which forwarded the request to the Telecommunication Department, and then to the BTRC for verification. Sources indicated that the approval process was well-advanced, and had the political situation not shifted on August 5, the transit approval might have been granted by now.