Broadband internet restored in selected areas after five days

After a five-day nationwide blackout due to violence over quota protests, broadband internet connections were partially restored last night on a limited scale. This trial-based restoration prioritizes banking, commercial, technology, exports, outsourcing service providers, and media outlets, according to Zunaid Ahmad Palak, the state minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and ICT, who made the announcement at a briefing at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Palak mentioned that full internet service restoration across the country would follow soon. However, he couldn't specify the level of access to social media apps during this initial phase. He also promised to address the restoration of mobile internet today.

On Monday, International Internet Gateway (IIG) companies were instructed to block certain social media and messaging apps and report on the success rate after trials, as per sources involved in the process who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

While the government and BTRC attributed the internet blackout to a fire at data centers in Dhaka's Mohakhali, sources indicated that the shutdown was government-ordered. Media investigations revealed no fire damage at the data centers, and officials confirmed that the fire did not reach their offices. The fire damaged overhead cables but should have disrupted internet connections for less than a quarter of the country's users, according to Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association.

Ahmed argued that given the redundancies and the fact that major internet service providers did not host their servers at the affected centers, nationwide internet service should have continued smoothly. He urged the government to restore full internet service, deeming it a basic necessity.

Multiple broadband providers reported vandalism of their cables and equipment during the recent violence, which should have caused localized outages rather than a complete blackout. On July 17, the government ordered a mobile internet shutdown to curb the spread of fake news amid unrest. The next day, a fire in the Department of Disaster Management building in Mohakhali damaged some data center transmission lines, reducing bandwidth supply by 30 to 40 percent and causing slow internet for some users. However, by 9:00 pm, a complete blackout ensued.

Emdadul Haque, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), stated yesterday that despite ongoing repairs, they are now prepared to provide broadband internet nationwide.