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A recent fire incident at Khawaja Tower in Mohakhali, the capital of Bangladesh, has resulted in severe internet service disruptions. According to the Bangladesh ISP Association (BISPA), it may take up to a week for the internet service to return to normal.
The President of BISPA, Emdadul Haque, explained that the situation was complicated by the fact that law enforcement agencies were not permitting access to the building due to security concerns. This restriction has made it impossible to carry out the necessary repair and restoration work promptly, causing delays in normalizing the internet service.
Haque elaborated on the situation, stating, “If we are not granted access to the building and cannot retrieve the necessary equipment, it will take an additional week to fully restore internet service. However, if access is granted, we can make the service live again today.”
The fire at the 14-story Khawaja Tower began on a Thursday at 5 o’clock, and 11 units of the fire service worked tirelessly until the building was declared fire-free at half-past nine on the following Friday morning.
The impact of the fire quickly rippled through the city, with reports of disrupted internet services in offices and homes in various areas of Dhaka. Many experienced slowdowns or a complete loss of internet connectivity, and internet service providers in the affected region promptly informed their customers of the service disruption.
Emdadul Haque further revealed that the fire had a direct impact on 40 to 50 percent of internet service providers across the country, while an additional 30 to 40 percent of ISPs were indirectly affected. The Khawaja Tower housed data centers and servers for numerous companies, including Grameenphone, and was a critical hub for most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and International Internet Gateways (IIG) in Bangladesh.
The restoration process is expected to be a complex and time-consuming endeavor due to the security measures in place. Until access to the building is granted, it appears that the internet service may remain disrupted for at least a week, with considerable challenges to overcome before full service can be restored.
