University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, on behalf of the Ministry of Education (MoE), is currently implementing the Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN). Now BdREN is in its initial phase. It will be a high-speed data-communications network that is independent of the commercial internet and is dedicated to meeting the needs of the academic and research communities of both public and private sectors.

BdREN with its multi-gigabit capability aims to connect all universities, research institutions, libraries, laboratories, healthcare and agricultural institutions across the country and to support geographically dispersed academics, scientists and researchers with reliable access to high-end computing, simulation tools and datasets. With a view to implementing the BdREN backbone, recently UGC has made an IRU contract with Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd.(PGCB) for its country-wide OPGW network. Backbone network of BdREN will be designed based on this optical fiber.

BdREN will eventually be operated by a Non-profit Trust organization with a board of trustees consisting of representatives from the universities/user communities, UGC, MoE and other members co-opted for their expertise and position in relevant organizations.

BdREN Enables Bangladesh to Connect to Global Research Community through New High Speed Link Connected With TIEN3

BdREN is connected to several international research communities in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, via the Trans-Eurasia Information Network 3 (TEIN3) and Internet2. The connectivity coverage includes Malaysia, China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Europe and the United States. Researchers connected to BdREN are able to communicate and collaborate with their counterparts overseas over the virtual work space at improved network performance and lower network latency.