Wholesale internet bandwidth price has been slashed by up to 15 percent to discourage imports from India and increase its usage, said officials of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL).

With effective from yesterday, the price cut will initially benefit mostly international gateway operators and internet service providers, said the company's top officials. “It will take some time for the reduction benefit to reach end users,” said Mashiur Rahman, managing director of BSCCL.

The lone state-owned submarine cable company fixed Tk 310 for each megabit per second (Mbps) of bandwidth in its first submarine cable landing station in Cox's Bazar, he said.However, the price will be less than Tk 300 in Dhaka and Chittagong, Rahman added. The company supplies 352 Mbps of bandwidth, while another200 Mbps is imported from India through International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) links.

The price cut will increase BSCCL's bandwidth usage and reduce imports, said market insiders.

"Now our price will be more competitive compared to that of ITC operators and business entities will buy more bandwidth from us," said Rahman.