Regulation

Bangladesh’s fuel austerity measures could lead to telecoms outages: AMTOB

Bangladesh’s fuel austerity measures could lead to telecoms outages: AMTOB

Bangladesh telcos reportedly urged the country’s telecoms regulator on Monday to prioritise fuel and energy supplies for telecoms infrastructure to avoid service disruptions as the government takes measures to deal with supply-chain disruptions stemming from the widening conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.

Last week, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources issued directives urging people to use energy and fuel more efficiently. The measures include things from using public transportation instead of private vehicles to avoiding decorative lighting, as well as a crackdown on fuel smuggling.

The ministry said the measures are intended to mitigate possible short-term disruptions in power and fuel supplies as the conflict in the Middle East impacts oil export volumes and prices.

However, according to the Daily Star, the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) sent a letter sent to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Monday saying that its power-consumption directives has resulted in many fuel stations either supplying fuel at significantly reduced volumes or stopping supplies completely.

The letter called for prioritised and uninterrupted fuel supplies for core network locations and data centres, assured fuel availability for base station sites and maintenance transport, and a reduction in load shedding at critical telecom facilities, the report said.

In the letter, AMTOB secretary general Mohammad Zulfikar said that networks remain heavily dependent on diesel and petrol-powered generators to keep base stations, transmission links and data centres running, especially during power outages.

“Any disruption to fuel availability therefore poses a serious risk to uninterrupted nationwide connectivity,” Zulfikar said, which could impact not only consumer connectivity, but also government services, emergency communication systems and business operations.

According to the BBC, oil prices reached close to US$120 per barrel on Monday over fears that the US-Israeli war with Iran would cause lengthy disruptions to supplies from the Middle East, to include a blockade by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard of the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial to the global energy supply chain.

According to Reuters, Iran said on Tuesday the blockade will continue as long as US and Israeli forces keep attacking the country. US President Donald Trump responded on social media that the US will intensify its strikes until the blockade is lifted.

On Tuesday, oil prices retreated slightly after Trump also claimed at a news conference that the war could end soon, but market experts expect prices to “remain incredibly twitchy” for some time, the BBC report said.



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