Why the Internet Speed Slows Down

Due to the gradual deterioration of the quality of internet service, the education system has fallen into disrepair. Students' online classes are being disrupted due to the slowness of the Internet. Other Internet-based services were also disrupted. Although the country has two submarine cables and one satellite capable of providing adequate internet bandwidth, its benefits are not reaching the consumer level.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many are now dependent on the Internet or data services. The demand for internet has led mobile operators to sell various data packages as well as increase revenue. But the quality of service is gradually declining.

The sufferers complained that due to the low speed of mobile internet, they are not able to meet the requirement even after purchasing a sufficient amount of data and they are not able to complete it within the stipulated time. As a result, they are being cheated.

The situation outside Dhaka is more deplorable. Broadband internet is also not able to meet the demand. The concerned authorities do not have a clear answer on how to resolve this crisis. Experts say that Bangladesh has everything to get high-speed internet. Operators, investors, and bandwidth nothing is lacking. But there is no efficient regulatory body to ensure its proper use.

According to the world index of a popular website Speedtest, Bangladesh lags behind India or Pakistan in terms of mobile internet speed. Afghanistan is the only country in South Asia that has slower internet than Bangladesh. In this case, the situation in Bangladesh is worse than in Ethiopia and Somalia, which are known as the poorest countries in Africa.

However, mobile operators in Bangladesh have been claiming that they have been providing 4G speed internet service for a long time. There are even rumors that they will soon offer 5G services, the latest technology on the Internet. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said at a virtual workshop titled Broadband Policy 2021 (Proposed) Revision organized by A4AI in Dhaka on Wednesday (July 7th) that optical fiber broadband connections for high-speed internet will reach across the country within this year. 

Although he did not make an official statement, a responsible official of a large mobile service provider denied that their internet speed was low. The telecom minister, however, said that the speed of the internet was slowing down as the amount of spectrum or wave was less than the number of internet subscribers of the mobile service providers.

Educational institutions have been closed since March 18 due to the outbreak of coronavirus. After that, Studying became mainly dependent on online classes. However, due to the weak speed of the Internet, it has become difficult to take regular classes. Students of big cities including the capital Dhaka can continue this class but it is not possible in other areas of the country. Many people can't connect to the internet even after hundreds of attempts. Again many classes are being cut in the middle. However, most of the students are waiting to join the online class while the class is coming to an end.

The number of students in the country from pre-primary to secondary is over four crore. The number of students in the higher secondary is about 3 million. The total number of students in higher education is about 41 lakh.

Jasim Uddin, the guardian of a fourth class student of a reputed school in the capital, said, ‘My home is Mirpur. We are using a broadband connection. But for a few days now the internet has been causing enough trouble. Not being able to join the class on time due to the slowness of the internet, the line is being cut in the middle. One day this week, the teacher himself could not take the class due to internet problem. '

Most of the students studying in public universities are from different parts of the country. The number of people who have got the opportunity to get admission to the university of their own area is negligible. After the closure of the university on March 17, they have gone to their respective homes. Even though online classes are running in the universities, it is not possible for all the students to participate. Many students do not have a smartphone or laptop. Many people are not able to buy high-quality internet packages. Again, the Internet is terribly weak in most parts of the country. As a result, students are not able to take part in online classes even if they have the device. This is creating inequity in education.

Maimuna Sultana, an official of a private organization, is quite active through social media. She has her own Facebook page and YouTube channel, where she streams live, uploads pictures/videos. But recently she has changed the operator of the mobile without getting the required speed internet service but did not get any benefit.

Although the two operators in their various advertisements and campaigns demanded uninterrupted internet connection across the country, Sultana sometimes got in trouble to get the connection inside Dhaka. Especially when she goes underground or up to 12 floors of a building, she no longer gets a network from her operator. Again, she has to face the same complication in many districts outside Dhaka.

Sultana said, ‘We went to visit Srimangal. I couldn't connect to any of my two operators there. But in both, I bought a seven-day package. I wasted all my money.'

She added that her office is on the 12th floor of a multi-storey building in Dhaka. There is too much trouble to get the required network!

SM Farhad, Secretary-General of AMTOB, an Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh has claimed that despite many problems, mobile operators are providing quality services.

According to him, the use of mobile internet has increased significantly during the coronavirus epidemic, which affected the service.

Experts say another way to increase the speed of mobile internet is to increase the number of mobile towers. But the mobile tower could not be installed for more than two and a half years. But at this time the number of customers has increased a lot. This has affected the speed of the internet.

The security aspect of internet use is also at risk. Security apps are not being used as needed. These are subject to high tariffs for imports. In financial institutions where three ‘firewalls’ are required, only one is used.

Experts say that the employees of the organizations need to be trained in this regard with the system of raising awareness. There is a need to spread awareness about what should and should not be done in the use of internet for the general consumers. Otherwise, cybercrime will not decrease. There will also be chances for large-scale cyber-attacks. Overall, this situation is also slowing down the government's drive to build a digital Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Managing Director Moshiur Rahman said, "We have a lot of bandwidth. Our capacity from two submarine cables is 2800 Gbps. On the other hand, the demand in the country is around 2300 Gbps. We are able to fully meet this demand, but we are being taken from 1480 Gbps. This is the calculation of last February. For a long time, 60 to 70 percent of the demand in the country is being taken from us. The remaining 35 to 40 percent is coming from neighboring countries through International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) operators.

According to research firm Speedtest, Bangladesh ranks 136th in terms of mobile internet speeds. And Bangladesh ranks 96th in terms of broadband internet speed. The average download speed of mobile internet in the country is 10.57 Mbps (megabits per second), upload 7.19 Mbps. The average download speed of broadband internet is 33.54 Mbps and the average upload speed is 33.96 Mbps.

The Maldives is at the forefront of mobile internet speeds in South Asia. The country ranks 45th globally with an average download speed of 44.30 Mbps and an average upload speed of 13.83 Mbps. In the Maldives, the average download speed on broadband internet is 24.50 Mbps and the average upload speed is 15.75 Mbps.

On paper, BTRC's initiative has all the elements that can already play a role in changing the pot in the implementation of the 'Digital Bangladesh's agenda. BTRC has set the price of 5 Mbps (megabits per second) internet at the customer level for the whole country at Tk 500. Besides, the price of 10 Mbps has been fixed at Tk 700 to Tk 800 and the price of 20 Mbps has been fixed at Tk 1110 to Tk 1200. Users outside Dhaka now spend many times more on broadband connections. Considering this, the newly fixed price is affordable for them.

Experts say low-cost Internet access will speed up technology-based distance learning activities. In addition, such initiatives have the potential to create a solid foundation for software engineers and IT professionals in second- or third-tier cities outside the capital. But the problem is, the BTRC could not think of the accessories to make it work. The cost of service for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) also include the cost of bandwidth and the cost of transmission and maintenance.