Desk Report,
Railways has increased the price of optical fiber, what will be the impact on the price of internet?
Bangladesh Railway has invited new tenders for leasing its fiber optic cables. However, this time the price per core has been increased compared to the previous one. Operators have objected to this.
Railways has increased the price of optical fiber, what will be the impact on the price of internet?
The railway invited this tender on June 16. In this, the price of each core fiber has been fixed at 4 taka 50 paisa, which was earlier 3 taka 8 paisa. Operators usually lease pairs of core fibers. Accordingly, the base price of a pair of fibers is 9 taka, which is 17 percent more than before.
Bangladesh Railway’s Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer (Telecom) Sushil Kumar Halder told Prothom Alo that the price has been adjusted according to the quality of the fiber.
The railway has 3,205 kilometers of fiber cables, which in addition to mobile operators, other NTTN (Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network) operators also lease to serve customers. The railway renews their leases every five years.
The operators allege that the railways did not seek approval from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) before the price hike. According to BTRC policy, the tariff for NTTN service rental or lease cannot be determined without the approval of the commission. A source concerned said that no application has been submitted to the BTRC in this regard.
When asked, Sushil Kumar Halder said that they will seek BTRC approval if necessary.
The operators say that on the one hand, the government is talking about reducing costs at the consumer level, but on the other hand, if additional costs are imposed on fiber leases, it will ultimately be passed on to the consumer.
Bangladesh Railway has invited new tenders for leasing its fiber optic cables. However, this time the price per core has been increased compared to the previous one. Operators have objected to this.
The railway invited this tender on June 16. In this, the price of each core fiber has been fixed at 4 taka 50 paisa, which was earlier 3 taka 8 paisa. Operators usually lease pairs of core fibers. Accordingly, the base price of a pair of fibers is 9 taka, which is 17 percent more than before.
Bangladesh Railway’s Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer (Telecom) Sushil Kumar Halder told Prothom Alo that the price has been adjusted according to the quality of the fiber.
The railway has 3,205 kilometers of fiber cables, which in addition to mobile operators, other NTTN (Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network) operators also lease to serve customers. The railway renews their leases every five years.
The operators allege that the railways did not seek approval from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) before the price hike. According to BTRC policy, the tariff for NTTN service rental or lease cannot be determined without the approval of the commission. A source concerned said that no application has been submitted to the BTRC in this regard.
When asked, Sushil Kumar Halder said that they will seek BTRC approval if necessary.
The operators say that on the one hand, the government is talking about reducing costs at the consumer level, but on the other hand, if additional costs are imposed on fiber leases, it will ultimately be passed on to the consumer.
