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The country is one of the worst impacted by the ongoing war in Iran, with the majority of its fuel typically being imported from the Middle East
This week, Bangladesh’s telecoms network operators are warning that they may soon be forced to shut down services due to a lack of fuel.
In a letter to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) said that the industry is facing “severe operational distress due to the prolonged unavailability of commercial power and the lack of assured fuel supply for backup systems”.
“The situation has escalated beyond the operational control,” said the AMTOB in the letter. “If these conditions persist, there is an imminent risk of large-scale telecom network shutdowns across significant parts of the country.”
Bangladesh is facing a sever fuel shortage caused by the ongoing war in Iran, which has limited the export of vital fuel supplies from the Middle East. Around 80% of Bangladesh’s crude oil and 65% of its natural gas are imported from the region.
Fuel prices in Bangladesh have risen by around 15% since the start of the conflict and rationing is being imposed by the government.
For the telcos, which operate much of their infrastructure using this fuel, the situation could soon be untenable. Base transceiver stations (BTS) consume over 52,000 litres of diesel and 20,000 litres of octane daily, while data centre operations use around 500–600 litres of diesel per hour, or around 4,000 litres per day per facility.
“Multiple strategically vital telecom facilities are currently running on dangerously low fuel reserves,” said the letter.
Network operators are calling on the government to grant parts of their networks priority in order to ensure that critical services like mobile financial transactions and emergency response can remain operational.
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