PM Modi to inaugurate submarine cable connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands on August 10

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and dedicate to the nation via video conferencing the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair on August 10, an official release said on Friday.

The submarine cable will also connect Port Blair to Swaraj Dweep (Havelock), Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great Nicobar, Long Island, and Rangat.

This will enable delivery of faster and more reliable mobile and landline telecom services to Andaman & Nicobar Islands, at par with other parts of India. "Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to inaugurate submarine cable connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&NI) on Monday 10 August," the statement said.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by the prime minister in December 2018 at Port Blair. The submarine optical fibre cable 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," the release said. Besides this, 4G mobile services, which were constrained due to limited backhaul bandwidth provided via satellite will also see a major boost.

"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," the statement added.

At the same time, small enterprises will benefit from opportunities in e-commerce, while educational institutions will utilise the enhanced availability of bandwidth for e-learning and knowledge sharing. Business Process Outsourcing services and other medium and large enterprises too also benefit from better connectivity.

The project is funded by the Government through the Universal Service Obligation Fund under Ministry of Communications. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) executed the project while Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) was the technical consultant.

About 2,300 km of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid at a cost of about Rs 1,224 crore, and the project has been completed in time, the statement noted.