Operating a landing station requires a licence from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and licensing policy sets conditions on who may apply, foreign shareholding and local partners. These rules have been revised in recent years and further reform has been under discussion, so the position must be checked for each project. A foreign company may nonetheless be able to participate through a licensed local entity, a joint venture or a capacity arrangement. We review the current licensing framework, structure the investment and prepare the subsea cable agreements so that ownership, control and licence obligations are consistent.

The landing party is the entity in each country that owns or operates the landing station, holds local licences and connects the system to domestic networks. It is the legal and practical bridge between an international subsea cable and the national telecom market. Its duties usually include station operation, power, security, maintenance coordination and access for other parties. Because the landing party often has local regulatory obligations that the consortium does not share, its agreement must address cost recovery, service levels, liability limits and what happens if its licence is suspended or changed.

Capacity is commonly sold through indefeasible rights of use, which give the buyer long-term exclusive use of defined capacity for most of the system's design life, usually with an upfront price and annual operation and maintenance charges. Shorter leases and managed wholesale services are also used, particularly by smaller buyers. The key terms are delivery dates, acceptance testing, restoration priority, upgrade rights, transferability and termination. In Bangladesh, buyers also need to consider foreign exchange approval for cross-border payments, withholding tax and the licence conditions that govern resale of international bandwidth.

A construction and maintenance agreement, often called a C&MA, governs how consortium members fund, build, own and maintain the system. It sets out each party's share of costs and capacity, the management committee and voting rules, the supply contract with the system manufacturer, maintenance arrangements, upgrades, admission of new parties, default and withdrawal. For a Bangladeshi participant, the practical issues include payment timing against foreign exchange approvals, the effect of majority decisions on local obligations and licence conditions, and dispute resolution provisions, which often specify arbitration in a foreign seat such as Singapore.

Approvals depend on the route and the landing site. Typically they involve environmental clearance from the Department of Environment, permissions affecting territorial waters and navigation, coastal and local government approvals for beach and land works, and coordination with ports, the navy or coast guard where relevant. Fisheries and protected area issues may also arise near sensitive coastal habitats and mangroves. We prepare a permit plan early, coordinate with the marine survey and installation contractors, and make sure the subsea cable supply contract allows for realistic approval timelines rather than penalising delays outside the parties' control.

Most systems are covered by maintenance agreements with specialist cable ship operators, and consortium documents set out how repair costs are shared. A capacity contract should state restoration obligations, service credits and whether the seller must provide alternative routing. Where a third party, such as a vessel dragging its anchor, causes the fault, there may be a claim against the shipowner, which can involve admiralty proceedings and evidence from vessel tracking. We advise on preserving evidence quickly, including vessel data and repair reports, notifying insurers and pursuing recovery so that subsea cable owners are not left bearing avoidable losses.

Infrastructure operators that simply carry traffic are in a different position from service providers that process personal data for their own purposes. However, landing station operators and capacity sellers still handle customer records, network logs and security data, and licence conditions on lawful interception and data handling continue to apply alongside the new Act. We review how the 2026 Act and its implementing rules affect your operations, customer contracts and cross-border data flows, and help align subsea cable agreements with your privacy and security obligations without unnecessary cost.

International consortium and capacity agreements usually provide for arbitration, often seated in Singapore, London or another established centre, with English or New York law governing the contract. Disputes with Bangladeshi licensees, landowners or contractors may instead come before local courts or domestic arbitration. Enforcement in Bangladesh of a foreign award is governed by the Arbitration Act 2001. We advise on dispute clauses at the drafting stage, act in negotiations and proceedings, and coordinate with foreign counsel so that any subsea cable award can be enforced effectively where the assets are.