Sub Mar-report Bscom-blue Sorcerer-2 Full

8/8/2019 Sub Mar-report Bscom-blue Sorcerer-2 Full

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION BLUE SORCERER

SURVEY PAPER

Submarine Cable in Bangladesh:

Impact on Internet Users

A report submitted to the School of Business in partial fulfillment of

the requirements of the final examination in BusinessCommunication

SPRING 2007

Blue Sorcerer

Piplu Barua (04-04605-1)Ferdous Main Uddin (06-06907-2)Mostofa Kamal MD (03-04024-2)Purnendu Mondol (06-06454-1)

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-BANGLADESHAMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-BANGLADESH

April 25, 2007

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Md. Hamidul Haque, School of Business, AmericanInternational University - Bangladesh, for guiding us all through in the preparationof this report. Without his support this report would not have been possible.

Thanks to Mohammad Roohul Kaiser, former student of American InternationalUniversity - Bangladesh from Computer Science department for helping us by

providing technical information in completing our report. Mohammad RoohulKaiser is working as an Application Junior Engineer, IT - Application Support in

Banglalink GSM.

A special thanks and recognition is extended to all those who contributed to thisreport by taking part in the survey and thus presenting their valuable opinions to us.

It was a wonderful experience altogether to work as a team in doing the research andpreparing this report on such an important issue.

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Abstract

The objective and mission of this report is to present the findings and analyses of theresearch carried out on Submarine Cable in Bangladesh: Impact on InternetUsers and hence try to find the above information, analyze them and thus try todetermine and recommend a suitable solution to solve any problem that may comeupon the internet users in Bangladesh.

Recently Bangladesh has joined SEA-ME-WE 4 consortium and that Bangladesh isnow connected with the so called information super highway. It is certain that thiscable will bring in new opportunities, advantages, development. This new submarinecable might bring along new trouble, too. We have focused on the impact of thissubmarine cable connectivity in our report.

From the research we found that majority of the people agreed to the fact that thecorporate users were benefiting more than normal users. They felt that corporateusers had substantial financial advantage and could invest more money than normalusers to purchase faster internet connection. Interestingly, some of the users stayedneutral to this issue because they thought that everyone was supposed to be

benefited from new submarine cable connectivity. Another important finding wasabout the increase of cyber crime after submarine cable connectivity. Most of theusers were victim of these crimes themselves so they agreed to this issue. They felt

that the new connection also brought along new problems. Almost all of thecorporate users were silent about the cyber crime after submarine connectivity.Some of the internet users were negative about this topic because they believed thatthe cyber crime issue hardly bore any relevance from Bangladeshi point of view.They said that cyber criminals did not have much prevalence in Bangladesh. Also,most of the people believe that our neighboring countries have already made a lot of

progress in the IT sector with the help of their existing submarine cable connectivity.So they think that Bangladesh will also be able to take advantage of their ownsubmarine cable connectivity and progress in the future.

The significance of connecting Bangladesh to the world through an optical fibercable must be emphasized. Although some factors are responsible for submarinecable related problem; we feel that in this report we have successfully identified allthe major aspects of submarine cable issue. Firstly, we have to realize thatsubmarine cable is a newly arrived technology so our aim is to provide solutions ofany kind of problem that may arise with this issue. As we have found in our researchthe public is quite frustrated about their internet connection. In order to get rid of thiskind of problem, we have to make sure that submarine cable connectivity reachesevery nook and corner in Bangladesh. When that is achieved, the authorities can takeeffective steps to satisfy the internet users. At that time people will realize thatsubmarine cable is actually a boon, not a bane. Only then we can expect that the

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ISPs will reduce the internet usage rates so that general people will be able to affordit.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 4

ABSTRACT.. 4

CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION. 1

1.1 Background... 11.2 Purpose of this Research... 2

CHAPTER 2:REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.............. 3

CHAPTER 3:RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............. 4

3.1 Sample of Research... 43.2 Questionnaire. 43.3 Interview of Participants 43.4 Scope and limitations. 4

CHAPTER 4:CONSEQUENCE.. 5

4.1 Findings of the Survey... 5

CHAPTER 5:DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS.......... 10

5.1 Overall Speed 105.2 Cyber Crime.. 115.3 Overall Cost.. 115.4 Surfing Time. 125.5 General Task. 135.6 Case Studies.. 16

5.61 Case-1.. 165.62 Case-2.. 175.63 Case-3.. 185.64 Case-4.. 19

CHAPTER 6:CONCLUSIONS.... 20

CHAPTER 7:RECOMMENDATIONS... 21

APPENDIX A... 22

APPENDIX B... 24

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 25

GLOSSARY.. 26

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INDEX... 27

Introduction1.1 Background

This report has been prepared on the basis of a research on the Submarine Cable inBangladesh: Impact on Internet Users. Submarine cables are mostly used for carrydigital payloads, which are then used to carry telephone traffic as well as internet

and private data traffic. Submarine cable consists of optical fibers which are thin,transparent fibers, usually made of glass or plastic, for transmitting light. The fiberoptic connection, as opposed to the satellite connection currently used by the localinternet service providers (ISPs), can provide greater bandwidths. People hope thatthe submarine cable connection is going to have a major impact on Bangladesh as awhole.

It is already known that Bangladesh has joined SEA-ME-WE 4 consortium and thatBangladesh is now connected with the so called information super highway. Thissubmarine cable connects Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Western Europe andhence the name is SEA-ME-WE, and 4 are for this cable is the fourth of its kind.The SEA-ME-WE 4 project is the fourth project in the SEA-ME-WE series. OnMarch 27 in 2004, a consortium of 16 international telecommunications companiessigned construction and maintenance agreements for the new optical fiber submarinecable system linking South East Asia to Europe via the Indian Sub-continent andMiddle East with Terminal Stations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh,India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy,Tunisia, Algeria and France. The contract is being awarded jointly to AlcatelSubmarine Networks, France and Fujitsu Ltd, Japan and the estimated project cost is

about $ 500 million. Besides, the submarine cable's Bangladesh segment's owner,the BTTB, also an Internet Service Provider, will enjoy free access to the submarinecable while the private sector ISPs are feared to be marginalized by payment

provisions for the same facility.

This Submarine connectivity (SEA-ME-WE 4) is the newest of its kind and sportsthe latest technology. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia inauguratedthe countrys new link to the SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable on 21 May, directlyconnecting it to 11 countries in Western Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East

and significantly boosting voice and data bandwidth. It is certain that this cable willbring in new opportunities, advantages, development. This new submarine cablemight bring along new trouble, too. We have focused on the impact of this

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submarine cable connectivity in our report. And in the end, we tried to come to aconclusion on the basis of our analyses and made some recommendations that might

be helpful in improving the problems that have arisen with the arrival of submarinecable connectivity in Bangladesh.

1.2 Purpose of this Research

At present we have an internet industry in Bangladesh and it is expanding rapidly. Inaddition to this, Bangladesh also has a huge number of internet users . Moreover, thissubmarine cable issue is already making a huge impact on the internet users as wellas normal people, so we decided to choose Submarine Cable in Bangladesh:Impact on Internet Usersas our topic.

Everybody thinks that Bangladesh can take advantage of the submarine cableconnectivity and will be able to progress along with other countries with submarinecable. But it remains to be seen if this new technology will be beneficial towardseveryone associated with it. We found it important to try to figure out whether the

people who already use internet or will use internet in the future will gain fromsubmarine connectivity. The purpose of this report was to find the aboveinformation, analyze them and thus try to determine and recommend a suitablesolution to solve any problem that may come upon the internet users in Bangladesh.

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Review of the Literature

Bangladesh has joined SEA-ME-WE 4 consortium on March 27 in 2004. In May2006, Bangladesh connected with the so called information super highway. Thissubmarine cable connects Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Western Europe andhence the name is SEA-ME-WE, and 4 are for this cable is the fourth of its kind.This cable is the newest of its kind and sports the latest technology. It is certain thatthis cable will bring in new opportunities, advantages, development. This newsubmarine cable might bring along new trouble, too. We have focused on the impact

of this submarine cable connectivity in our report. And in the end, we tried to cometo a conclusion on the basis of our analyses and made some recommendations thatmight be helpful in improving the problems that have arisen with the arrival ofsubmarine cable connectivity in Bangladesh.

In chapter one, we have introduced the topic of our research. First we gave somebackground information about the topic. Then we discussed the purpose of thisreport. In chapter three we have discussed about methodology, which includesinformation about the sample, questionnaire, interview and limitations of our

research. The results of the survey have been placed at the beginning of chapter four.In chapter five, next we have analyzed all the findings from the survey. And wefinished chapter fives analyses part by supporting our analyses through the viewswe gathered from interviews. We interviewed four people as a part of our casestudies. In chapter six we placed the conclusion and then follow ourrecommendations in the final chapter, i.e., chapter seven.

Bangladesh can take advantage of the submarine cable connectivity and will be ableto progress along with other countries with submarine cable. But it remains to beseen if this new technology will be beneficial towards everyone associated with it.We found it important to try to figure out whether the people who already useinternet or will use internet in the future will gain from submarine connectivity. The

purpose of this report was to find the above information, analyze them and thus tryto determine and recommend a suitable solution to solve any problem that may comeupon the internet users in Bangladesh.

We hope that this report, despite its many limitations, will be a gateway tounderstand different views of the internet users after submarine connectivity inBangladesh.

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Research Methodology

3.1 Sample of Research

We have considered people from different professions as samples for carrying outthe survey. We made sure that among the number of internet users taking this surveyand the total number internet users in Bangladesh are equally proportional. In totalwe surveyed 102 people, i.e., out of them 50 were students & 52 were service

holder, businessman & working in different professionals area.

3.2 Questionnaire

We divided the questionnaire into three parts. Firstly, we determined what kind ofuser the person was and what kind of internet connection he had. Secondly, we triedto determine the impact of submarine cable on the user. At the end, we tried to figureout whether the user was facing any problem after obtaining submarine cable

connectivity and what will be the overall effect of submarine cable in Bangladesh.

3.3 Interview of Participants

We went to the ISPs which recently obtained submarine cable connectivity. Afterthat we took interview of four people who are clients of one of these ISPs. We talkto them individually while following the same question pattern. We have includedthe details of these four interviews and presented extensive background information

on the interviewees in the next chapter.

3.4 Scopes and limitations

The whole country is debating on the submarine cable issue as it a very descriptiveissue. It has no boundaries virtually and it contains numerous small details. It is anew technology and people are curious about it. It is nearly impossible to cover allthe issue regarding submarine cable. So, we set our issue on the impact on internet

users and tried to cover all the aspects of it. However, due to the shortage of time, itwas hard to carry out a survey on a larger scale. For this reason our findings may notreflect the precise opinion of the internet users in Bangladesh.

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Consequence

4.1 Findings of the Survey

Q.01. Submarine cable connectivity has increased our overall internet speed.

Q.02. Do you still suffer from low download speed when you use the internet?

Q.03. Cyber crime (spamming, virus, spyware, hacking) has increased after

your submarine connection?

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Neutral, 24%

Partially

disagree, 13%

Disagree,

13%

Partially

agree, 13%

Agree, 37%

Yes, 62%Neutral, 25%

No, 13%

Yes, 38%

Neutral, 37%

No, 25%


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Q.04. Did you have to pay extra money to your ISP for submarine cable

connection?

Q.05. Submarine cable connectivity has increased your internet surfing cost perhour in cafe?

Q.06. When do you use net the most?

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Yes, 45%

Neutral, 11%

No, 44%

Yes, 56%

Neutral, 22%

No, 22%

Morning, 0% Noon, 13%

Evening, 13%

Night, 49%

Late Night,25%


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Q.07. Now you need less time for your work after submarine cable connection?

Q.08. Submarine cable connectivity has increased your internet surfing time

then before?

Q.09. How do you compare your internet line with other lines?

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agree, 40%

partially agree,

38%

disagree, 1%partially

disagree, 4%

neutral, 17%

agree, 32%

partially agree,

50%

disagree, 3%partially

disagree, 6%

neutral, 9%

Fast, 49%

Above

Average, 0%

Average, 25%

Bellow

Average, 13%

Slow, 13%


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Q.10. Are you satisfied with your internet connection?

Q.11. Corporate users are benefiting more than normal users.

Q.12. Submarine cable has helped to increase your relationship with

international companies.

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Satisfied,

13%

Slightly

Satisfied,

49%

Not Satisfied,

38%

Agree, 34%

Partially Agree,

33%

Neutral, 22%

Partially

Disagree, 11%

Disagree, 0%

Agree, 49%Neutral, 38%

Partially Agree,

13%

Disagree, 0%Partially

Disagree, 0%


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Q.13. Submarine connectivity will help the overall development of Bangladesh.

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Agree, 62%

Partially

Agree, 13%

Neutral, 25%

Partially

Disagree, 0%Disagree, 0%


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Discussion and Analysis

We conducted a survey based on our topic and got some results. The findings andanalyses of our survey are as follows.

5.1 Overall Speed

Q.01. Submarine cable connectivity has increased our overall internet speed.

37% of the internet users agreed and 13% of them partially agreed to this issue thatsubmarine cable connectivity has increased our overall internet speed. Theysupported this statement because they feel that the stability of their internetconnection has increased after getting submarine cable connection.

24% of the internet users stayed neutral to this statement because they felt that thesubmarine cable connection did not increase or decrease the speed of their internetconnection.

13% of the users partially disagreed and 13% of them totally disagreed to this issuebecause they have experienced decreased internet traffic which offset the advantageof submarine cable connectivity.

Q.02. Do you still suffer from low download speed when you use the internet?

A large percentage (62%) of the users complained that they suffered from lowdownload speed because they expected that the new submarine cable connectivitywill speed up their internet connection. But in the end they felt that the outcome fellshort of the expectation.

Another 25% of the internet users stayed neutral to this issue because they usuallydo not use internet for downloading content from internet.

The rest (13%) of the internet users gave negative reply because most of these usershad broadband connection with relatively high speed so the downloading speed didnot matter to them.

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5.2 Cyber Crime

Q.03. Cyber crime (spamming, virus, spyware, hacking) has increased after

your submarine connection?

38% of the users gave positive reply because they were victim of these crimesthemselves. They felt that the new connection also brought along new problems.

Interestingly, 37% of the users stayed neutral. Almost all of these users werecorporate users and most of them were silent on this issue.

25% of the users were negative because they believed that the cyber crime issuehardly bore any relevance from Bangladeshi point of view. They also added that

cyber criminals did not have much prevalence in Bangladesh.

5.3 Overall Cost

Q.04. Did you have to pay extra money to your ISP for submarine cable

connection?

45% of the users replied positively. They said that their respective ISPs demanded

extra money for connections with new submarine cable facility. The ISPs told theusers that they had to cover the costs of remodeling.

44% of the users replied negatively as their ISPs forbade their respective users onthe excuse that they (the users) would not be able to afford the new and costlyconnectivity.

A mere 11% of the users did not have any information on whether their ISP hadobtained submarine cable connectivity or not. So they stayed neutral on this issue.

Q.05. Submarine cable connectivity has increased your internet surfing cost per

hour in cafe?

56% of the users replied positively. They said that local cyber cafes claimed extramoney for internet surfing. But the cyber cafes owner told us that they had to coverthe costs of modernizing. Also they blamed ISPs for demanding extra money.

22% of the users replied negatively because most of the case they are home user notcyber caf user. Also we saw that some of cyber caf owners do not demand extramoney as they responsible for their customers.

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Another 22% of the users did not have much information about that. Because theythought that in cyber caf internet surfing cost per hour is not much affect in their

present life.

5.4 Surfing Time

Q.06. When do you use net the most?

None of the users who took this survey browse internet in the morning. The mainreason was that most of the internet users were either student or service holder ofsome sort. So they did not have much time to occupy themselves with internetrelated activity. Additionally none of the users use the internet even in the morning

on a holiday.

13% of the users used internet at noon and 13% of the users used internet in theevening because these users were corporate users and cyber caf users. They usedinternet mostly for job and education purpose.

Almost half (49%) of the inter user said that they use internet at night. They claimedthatthey have more spare time at night to use the internet. They also added that thespeed of their internet line increases at night. Moreover, they get to communicate

with almost everyone at that time.

25% of the internet users used internet at late night because they use the internetonly for chatting purpose. These users seemed to be addicted to the internet. Some ofthem used the internet for downloading purpose also.

Q.07. Now you need less time for your work after submarine cable connection?

40% of the internet users agreed and 38% of them partially agreed to this issue. Theysupported this statement because they feel that they have need less time then beforefor their work. Also they said that their working process is moreover easier for that.

17% of the internet users stayed neutral to this statement because they felt that theydidnt know is their any change or not in their working time.

4% of the users partially disagreed and 1% of them totally disagreed to this issuebecause they said they have needed much time for their work after submarineconnection. Also their working process is not much easier than other time.

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Q.08. Submarine cable connectivity has increased your internet surfing time

then before?

32% of the internet users agreed and 50% of them partially agreed. Most of them

said that they surf the internet much more time cause for that the speed of internetline increases for submarine connectivity.

9% of the internet users stayed neutral to this speech because they havent muchmore information about their internet surfing time. Moreover most of them said thatthey didnt addict to the internet so they have no information.

6% of the users partially disagreed and 3% of them totally disagreed to this questionbecause their internet speed not much batter, so they havent much more interest

about their surfing time.

5.5 General Task

Q.09. How do you compare your internet line with other lines?

Almost half (49%) of the internet users claimed that their internet lines were fasterthan that of other users. The users stated that they were now able to do their usual

internet activity much better than before. However, most of the aforementionedusers were corporate users.

None of the users said that their internet lines were faster than the average becausethey felt that their internet line was just as good as before.

25% of the users said that their internet lines were average because they thought thatthe speed of their internet line increased slightly.

13% of the users said that their internet lines were below average and the rest 13%said that their internet lines were slow because they were not satisfied with theirexisting internet line.

Q.10. Are you satisfied with your internet connection?

Unsurprisingly, only 13% of the internet users were very satisfied with their currentconnection because most of these users were found to be corporate users.

49% of the users were slightly satisfied with their internet connections because ofnewly obtained submarine connectivity which increased the overall speed a bit.

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38% of the users were not satisfied with their internet connection because theirexpectations were higher than this.

Q.11. Corporate users are benefiting more than normal users.

Majority of the people either agreed (34%) or partially agreed (33%) that corporateusers were benefiting more than normal users because they felt that corporate usershad substantial financial advantage and could invest more money than normal usersto purchase faster internet connection. For the same reason, none of the usersdisagreed to this issue.

Interestingly, 22% of the users stayed neutral and the rest 11% partially disagreed to

this issue because they opined that everyone was supposed to be benefited from newsubmarine cable connectivity. Some of the people who partially disagreed also saidthat they had a little concept of this particular issue.

Q.12. Submarine cable has helped to increase your relationship with

international companies.

Almost 62% of the people gave positive reply to this statement. Among them 49%

totally agreed and 13% partially agreed because they claimed that they are now ableto communicate more smoothly and more frequently with their potential clients.

Most of the people who use the internet for home use i.e. chatting, browsing anddownloading, replied neutrally. 38% of the total people who took part in this surveyreplied in this way.

The new submarine cable connectivity has brought only new opportunities, everyoneis positive about this. That is why none of the users neither partially disagreed nor

totally disagreed in this issue.

Q.13. Submarine connectivity will help the overall development of Bangladesh.

A massive 62% of the total internet users welcomed the new submarine cableconnectivity in Bangladesh and totally agreed to this issue. This showed thateveryone is optimistic about this change in the current situation of internet usage.They also felt that the current situation will very likely improve with the arrival ofsubmarine cable.

13% of the users partially agreed to this issue because they felt that everybody willgain from submarine cable connectivity although they were yet to receive the

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submarine cable connection. They were hopeful that submarine cable connectivitywill reach all parts of Bangladesh in the near future although dedicated internetconnections are available only at corporate level.

Some of the users were suffering from bad internet connection although their ISPs

might have obtained submarine cable connectivity already. They were not optimisticabout the submarine cable situation and did not expect this to improve soon. 25% ofthe users felt this way and stayed neutral on this issue.

Our neighboring countries have already made a lot of progress in the IT sector withthe help of their existing submarine cable connectivity. Everyone thinks thatBangladesh will also be able to take advantage of their own submarine cableconnectivity and progress in the future. That is why none of the users neither

partially disagreed nor totally disagreed to this issue.

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5.6 Case Studies

5.61: Case #1

Mr. Sazzad Hossain.Age: 29EmployerCorporate User, Broad Band.

Background:

Mr. Sazzad Hossain is an employer in a multinational company, Zakir Steel Zone.He joined the company in 2001. Now He is the Deputy Manager of that company.

As a multinational company Zakir Steel Zone communicates with different foreigncompanies for import export purposes. This company uses internet mostly forcommunicating with those foreign companies. So they prefer to use submarineconnection.

Opinions on Impact of Submarine cable on Bangladesh:

After four years of delaying, Bangladesh is finally signing on March 27 asubmarine cable agreement with 12 other countries that will open a high-speed, low-

priced internet and telecommunications gateway to the users from June 2005., saidMr. Sazzad. When we asked him if Bangladesh can take advantage of this? In hisopinion, this submarine cable is going to slash internet and long-distance telephonecall costs and greatly boost browsing speed. The county will have a 10-gigabyte datatransfer capacity a second, 68 times more than the current capacity. State telecomsmonopoly Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) and over 100internet service providers (ISP) between them now have a 150-megabyte datatransfer capacity each second which is enormous compared to the previous v- sat

based internet connection.

Mr. Sazzad said, We will be able to communicate with our clients more frequentlynow. Bangladesh will certainly be able to take advantage of submarine cable.

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5.62: Case #2

Sabih Uddin AhmedAge: 23Student

Home User, Broad Band.

Background:

Sabih Uddin Ahmed is doing his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) formNorth South University (NSU). This is his 10th semester. His current CGPA is 3.59out of 4 scale. He was the Regional President of AIESEC, Bangladesh. He has

participated in lots of seminars and conferences from AIESEC. He is a very goodpublic speaker. He has experience of working abroad.


The frustration of Sabih Uddin Ahmed is given in his own words, BangladeshTelegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) joined the SEA-ME-WE 4 submarinecable. It built the associated infrastructure needed to reach the submarine cablegateway from the earnings of its other telecoms ventures and the law explicitly

prohibits such practices of subsidization. BTTB built the cables landing station inCoxs Bazar and from there it deployed an optical fiber link up to Chittagong from

the earnings of its fixed telephony, Internet and data connectivity services. This iswhat the law explicitly prohibits because the private sector is also offering allthese three categories of services through competition.

He pointed out, BTTBs undisputed control over the SEA-ME-WE 4 provides free bandwidth to its state-owned Internet service. It allows BTTB to maintain anartificially lower tariff for its Internet services while private Internet service

providers (ISPs) have to buy the same bandwidth, which compels them to imposehigher tariff on their services, putting them in disadvantage in competition with

BTTB.

He was very disappointed with his internet connection and said that the internet lineis unstable, the browsing speed did not increase and he had to pay more money for anew connection. He thinks that BTTB is deliberately trying to jeopardize thecountrys smooth development through the information super highway.

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5.63: Case #3

Mohammad Roohul KaiserAge: 26Employer

Home User, Dial-up.

Background:

Mohammad Roohul Kaiser is a former student of American International University Bangladesh. He was a student of Computer Science department. At present he isworking as an Application Junior Engineer, IT Application Support in BanglalinkGSM.


Here are the exact words of Mohammad Roohul Kaiser, Bangladesh has, of late,joined the information superhighway after being connected with the SEA-ME-WE 4submarine cable line. It was a long sought-after dream that has come true after along but arduous journey.

Regarding his internet usage, he said, Ive been using internet since 1997. That timeI was glad to use internet and didnt think speed as a deciding factor at all. But as

days passed by and Id made some international friends, I realized that the speed Imgetting while using internet is very low and isnt the standard over the world. Eventhough that time the whole internet concept was so new, it didnt matter much. Nowafter around 8 years Bangladesh finally got connected with submarine cable. When Ifirst hear this news I was too much excited, as an I.T. guy I always knew the

possibilities. But again after these many months I am frustrated.

Then he explained the term Broadband, Ive never got a Broadband connectionbecause whats sold after the name Broadband is not really broadband, but is

Narrowband. Since Bangladesh got connected to the submarine Backbone Ivebeen keeping an eye on the situation. But then again its taking too much time. Rightnow only six ISPs are connected till now and only corporate clients are getting theadvantage of submarine cable. As Ive some friends in ISP sector, Ive become toknow that to get the facility at user level it may take 2/3 years more, which is reallyfrustrating.

He expressed his concern on the future of submarine cable connectivity inBangladesh, I think to get the real benefit of submarine cable government shouldspread it real quick as well as keep the price at their minimal (As far as I know, at

Japan dedicated 50 Mbps line costs only 3500bdt) otherwise we will loose muchmore of our valuable time.

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5.64: Case #4

Shariful IslamAge: 24Part time employer and job seeker

Cyber Cafe User, Broad Band.

Background:

Shariful Islam completed his B.Sc. in Computer Science & Engineering in 2006from Daffodil University Bangladesh. His CGPA was 3.26 out of 4 scale. He is nowdoing a part time job in a NGO, Juba Jibon Unnayan Samity. As a computerengineer he wants to join a software company. He uses internet in cyber caf for

browsing job seeking websites like bdjobs.


The SEA-ME-WE 4 cable has landed in Bangladesh. This was great news toShariful Islam. Satellite connectivity is simply not enough for participation in the jobsearching from a cyber caf, the latency is a problem in some cases and the high costis the deal beaker.

The submarine cable did help to increase the browsing speed. said Shariful, But

its advantages were offset by the increased rate of internet browsing. He added.Before the arrival of submarine cable, he had to pay 15 taka per hour for internet

browsing but now he pays 20/25 taka per hour.

In his opinion, Bangladesh has the advantage of learning from the mistakes ofothers. The choice before the government today is no different from that facing ahome builder who discovers that the foundation of his house is fundamentallyflawed. Fixing the foundation will take time and money, but those costs less thanthose of perpetually repairing the house with the flawed foundation or of being

unable to make full use of the house.

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Conclusions

The submarine cable issue is a very descriptive issue with a broad range of topics.Anyone can talk about it all day long on any of its numerous small details. It is anew technology and people are hardly aware of it. It is nearly impossible to cover allthe issue regarding submarine cable.

In this report we have presented the findings and analyses of our research onSubmarine Cable in Bangladesh: Impact on Internet Users. If a similarresearch is carried out in another country the findings might be completely differentthan ours. The state of the internet industry of the country, the effectivenesssubmarine cable in that country, the outlook of its internet users, all these factorshave a huge impact on the internet in any country. And the findings of our surveyclearly reflect this fact.

The opinions of the people who took part in the survey were more or less consistent.The case study interviews also presented us with similar opinions. In analyzing thefindings of the survey we have mentioned in details the probable reasons that

worked in favor of peoples views.

We tried to make the findings from the survey more easily understandable bypreparing pie charts for each of them. All in all, we tried our level best to utilize ourfull strength and make the report as complete as possible in this short time. We

believe this report can be considered as a dependable paper in research on submarinecable in Bangladesh.

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Recommendations

The significance of connecting Bangladesh to the world through an optical fibercable must be emphasized. Although some factors are responsible for submarinecable related problem; we feel that in this report we have successfully identified allthe major aspects of submarine cable issue. Firstly, we have to realize thatsubmarine cable is a newly arrived technology so our aim is to provide solutions ofany kind of problem that may arise with this issue. As we have found in our researchthe public is quite frustrated about their internet connection. In order to get rid of thiskind of problem, we have to make sure that submarine cable connectivity reachesevery nook and corner in Bangladesh. When that is achieved, the authorities can takeeffective steps to satisfy the internet users. At that time people will realize thatsubmarine cable is actually a boon, not a bane. Only then we can expect that theISPs will reduce the internet usage rates so that general people will be able to affordit.

A well defined set of rules and regulations should be put to work, which may helpthe users use the internet up to their expectation. A good infrastructure should be

built to ensure proper stability of the optical fiber link between Cox's Bazar toDhaka. BTTB must also take proper steps to secure the submarine cable in order to

protect it from sabotage.

It is a common knowledge that large companies can afford high speed internet linesusing their capital which the home users can only dream about. So authorities shouldtake proper actions to decrease the discrimination between the corporate and homeusers by reducing internet tariff and providing faster more bandwidth.

If the government of Bangladesh and the relevant stakeholders learn from themistakes of others and create a policy and regulatory environment that will allow the

participation of multiple companies in cost-effectively connecting the people andcompanies of Bangladesh to the world, and also help the countrys ICT sectors to bemore competitive, the promise of the service economy will no longer be a distantdream.

If we remain united, those who are involved in various evil attempts to halt theprogress of our country will fail. Well succeeded and come out victorious.

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C H A P T E R

7


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Appendix A

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-BANGLADESHAMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-BANGLADESH

A Questionnaire onSubmarine Cable in Bangladesh:Submarine Cable in Bangladesh: Impact on Internet UsersImpact on Internet Users

Name: ___________________ ___ _ Age: _ _ _ Occupation: _____ ______

Please tick () the question bellow:

I am a - Home User Corporate User Cyber Caf UserI use - Dial-up Broad Band

Please respond to the following statements by tick ( ) the appropriate opinions givenunder each of them.

Overall speed:01. Submarine cable connectivity has increased our overall internet speed.

Agree Partially agree Neutral Partially disagree Disagree

02. Do you still suffer from low download speed when you use the internet?

Yes Neutral No

Cyber crime:03. Cyber crime (spamming, virus, spyware, hacking) has increased afteryour submarine connection?

Yes Neutral No

Overall cost:04. Did you have to pay extra money to your ISP for submarine cableconnection? Yes Neutral No

05. Submarine cable connectivity has increased your internet surfing costper hour in cafe?

Yes Neutral No

Surfing time:06. When do you use net the most?

Morning Noon Evening Night Late night

07. Now you need less time for your work after submarine cable connection?

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Agree Partially agree Neutral Partially disagree Disagree08. Submarine cable connectivity has increased your internet surfing timethen before?


General task:09. How do you compare your internet line with other lines?

Fast Above average Average Bellow average

Slow

10. Are you satisfied with your internet connection?

Very satisfied Slightly satisfied Not satisfied

11. Corporate users are benefiting more than normal users.


12. Submarine cable has helped to increase your relationship withinternational communities.


13. Submarine connectivity will help the overall development of Bangladesh.


-- THANK YOU --

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Appendix B

Information about Internet history, ISP companies and submarine cable inBangladesh has been collected from the following sources

Bangladesh Computer Council http://www.bccbd.org/

Bangladesh Computer Society http:// www.bcs-bd.org/

Bangla ICT Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict

Internet Service Providers Assoc. Bangladesh http://www.ispabd.org

The Daily Star http://www.thedailystar.net

The Daily Prothom Alo http://www.prothom-alo.com

A Brief History of the Internet -

http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/cerf.shtml

Grameen Cyber Society - http://www.grameentelecenter.com

Global Voices Online - http://www.globalvoicesonline.com

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Bibliography

Brock, S. L. (1992) Writing Business Proposals and Reports:

Strategies for Success, Ontario : Crisp Learning.

Kuiper, S. & Kohut, G. F. (1998) Contemporary Business Report

Writing, Cincinnati: South-Western Publications Co.

Taylor, S. (2004) Model Business Letters and E-mails, Singapore:

Pearson Education (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Treece, M. & Hartman, L. D. (1991)Effective Reports for Managerial

Communication, Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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Glossary

AIESEC - Assoc. Int. des Et. des Sciences Econ. et Commercials

Broad Band A type of internet connection with relatively high bandwidth

BTTB Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board

Consortium Association, especially of several business companies

Cyber Caf A caf with computers where people can use the internet

Cyber Crime Crimes related to electronic comm. network esp. internet

Dial-up A type of internet connection that uses telephone lines

Download To move data to a computer from internet

Fiber optic To use thin glass fibers to transfer data in the form of light signals

Hacking To intrude into someones computer illegally and manipulate data

ISP Internet Service Provider

Mbps Mega bits per second

Narrow Band A type of internet connection with relatively low bandwidth

SEA-ME-WE 4 South East Asia Middle East Western Europe 4

Spamming To overload someones E Mail inbox by sending excessive mails

Spyware Stealth program used to leak data from peoples computers

Submarine Backbone The submarine cable that supports all the networks

Submarine Cable Undersea internet connection connecting different countries

Upload To move data from a computer to internet

VIRUS Vital Information Resource Under Siege

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Index

AAIESEC 17Alcatel Submarine Networks 01

BBandwidth 01, 17Broad Band 01, 04, 17, 18, 19BTTB 01, 16, 17, 21

CConsortium 01, 16Cyber Caf 12, 19Cyber Crime 11

DDial-up 21Digital Payload 01Download 10, 12, 14

FFiber 01, 17, 19, 21Fiber Optic 01

Fujitsu Ltd. Japan 01

HHacking 11

IInformation Superhighway 01, 17ISP 01, 04, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21

MMbps 18

OOptical 01, 17, 19, 21

SSEA-ME-WE-4 01, 17, 18, 19Spamming 11Spyware 11Submarine Cable 01, 04-21

TTelephone Traffic 01

U Upload 01

VVirus 11

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