Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair on August 10, 2020 via video conferencing. The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone for this project on December 30, 2018 at Port Blair.
While delivering his inaugural address, the Prime Minister stated that completing the work of laying 2,300 km long cable undersea before the scheduled time is praiseworthy. He highlighted that deep-sea surveys, maintaining cable quality and laying cable using special ships is not easy.
Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair, via video conferencing.
— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2020
The foundation stone for this project was laid by PM Modi on 30th December 2018 at Port Blair. pic.twitter.com/lLYKL5Nyss
PM Modi further stated that the optical fibre cable project, which connects Andaman & Nicobar with rest of the country is a symbol of our commitment towards ease of living. He stated that this will enable thousands of families in Andaman and Nicobar to get access to online classes, tourism, digital banking, online shopping or telemedicine.
This optical fibre cable project, connecting Andaman & Nicobar with rest of the country is symbol of our commitment towards ease of living. Be it online classes, tourism, banking, shopping or telemedicine, thousands of families in Andaman-Nicobar will now get its access: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/wOTqqJWArW
— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2020
Significance
The Prime Minister empasised that tourists going to Andaman will get a huge benefit of this facility because better net connectivity has become the first priority of any tourist destination.
Tourists going to Andaman will get a huge benefit of this facility because better net connectivity has become the first priority of any tourist destination: Prime Minister Narendra Modi https://t.co/IwLL9FXaXK
— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2020
The Prime Minister through a tweet recalled his 2018 visit to Andaman and Nicobar Islands when people complained about poor internet. He stated that the 2300 km long submarine cable will change that. He assured that the cable will transform lives in quick time and challenging geographies.
When I visited Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2018, people complained about poor internet. A 2300 kms long submarine cable inaugurated today changes that! In quick time and challenging geographies, the cable is all set to transform lives. Kudos to those who worked on this! pic.twitter.com/XK7MgXyAty
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 10, 2020
High Impact Projects
PM Modi further stated that High Impact Projects are now being expanded in 12 islands of Andaman and Nicobar. He reiterated that while a key problem of the island - mobile & internet connectivity- has been resolved, the centre is working on strengthening physical connectivity through road, air and water.
Deep-draft Greenfield Seaport
The Prime Minister added saying that India's first deep-draft greenfield seaport at West Coast has also received principal approval after almost three decades. The construction work of the deep-draft inner harbour has begun at East Coast.
Key Highlights
• The Submarine Optical Fibre Cable will also connect Port Blair to Swaraj Dweep, 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 and Nicobar Islands.
• This enhanced telecom and Broadband connectivity will in turn help boost tourism and employment generation in the Islands and give the much-needed impetus to the economy and raise standards of living.
• The better connectivity will also facilitate smooth delivery of e-Governance services such as telemedicine and tele-education and small enterprises will benefit from opportunities in e-commerce.
• The educational institutions will also be able utilize enhanced availability of bandwidth for learning and knowledge sharing. The submarine Optical Fibre Cable link is expected to deliver 2x200 Gbps bandwidth between Port Blair and Chennai and 2x100 Gbps bandwidth between Port Blair and the other islands.
• The provision of robust, reliable and high-speed telecom and Broadband services in these Islands is being seen as a landmark achievement. This will also enable an improvement in 4G mobile services in the Union Territory, which were constrained earlier due to limited backhaul bandwidth provided via satellite.
• Better connectivity is also expected to benefit Business Process Outsourcing services and other medium and large enterprises.
Background
The Submarine Optical Fibre Cable project was funded by the centre through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) under the Union Communication Ministry's Department of Telecommunications.
The project was executed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), while Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) was the Technical Consultant.
The entire optical fibre cable covering 2300 km has been laid at a cost of Rs 1224 crore. It has been completed before the scheduled time.
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