News
Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to inaugurate
submarine cable connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar
Islands (A&NI) on Monday 10th August
High-speed Broadband connectivity for Andaman &
Nicobar Islands
Undersea cable of nearly 2300 KM length between
Chennai-Port Blair and Port Blair and 7 Islands
A big boost to e-governance, tourism and Information
Technology
Posted On: 07 AUG 2020 2:41PM by PIB Delhi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate and dedicate to the Nation through video
conferencing the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair on
10th August, 2020. The submarine cable will also connect Port Blair to Swaraj Dweep (Havelock),
Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great Nicobar, Long Island, and Rangat. This connectivity
will enable delivery of faster and more reliable mobile and landline telecom services to Andaman &
Nicobar Islands, at par with other parts of India. The foundation stone for this project was laid by the
Hon’ble Prime Minister on 30th December 2018 at Port Blair.
Once inaugurated, the submarine OFC link will deliver bandwidth of 2 x 200 Gigabits per second
(Gbps) between Chennai and Port Blair, and 2 x 100 Gbps between Port Blair and the other islands.
Provision of reliable, robust, and high-speed telecom and Broadband facilities in these Islands will
be a landmark achievement from the viewpoint of consumers, as well as for strategic and
governance reasons. 4G mobile services, which were constrained due to limited backhaul
bandwidth provided via satellite will also see a major improvement.
Enhanced telecom and Broadband connectivity will boost tourism and employment generation in
the Islands, give an impetus to the economy and raise standards of living. Better connectivity will
also facilitate delivery of e-Governance services such as telemedicine and tele-education. Small
enterprises will benefit from opportunities in e-commerce, while educational institutions will utilize
the enhanced availability of bandwidth for e-learning and knowledge sharing. Business Process
Outsourcing services and other medium and large enterprises will also reap the benefits of better
connectivity.
The project is funded by the Government of India through the Universal Service Obligation Fund
(USOF) under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications. Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) executed this project while Telecommunications Consultants India
Limited (TCIL) are the Technical Consultants. About 2300 Kms of Submarine OFC cable has been
laid at a cost of about Rs 1224 Crore, and the project has been completed in time.
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