Port Blair, Jan 08 : BSNL have organised a function for commencement of cable-laying of Chennai – Andaman & Nicobar Islands Submarine Optical Fibre Cable System. This will be inaugurated by Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT, and Law & Justice, Government of India, in the august presence of Admiral D.K. Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.), the Lt. Governor, A&N Islands, & Vice-Chairman, Islands Development Agency, at 1 pm on Thursday the 9th January 2020 in Chennai. The inaugural function is at Le Meridien Hotel, followed by the flag-off ceremony in the cable-laying ship “KT Responder”, berthed inside Chennai Port jetty.
This project of national importance will build the first ever dedicated submarine OF cable link from Chennai to A&N Islands. It will connect Port Blair to Chennai and will have further landings in seven islands: Swaraj Dweep, Long Island, Rangat, Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta and Great Nicobar. The project activity was formally launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India last year, on 30 December 2018, during his visit to Port Blair.
This system will play a pivotal role in driving the “Digital India” vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister. The total length of submarine cable to be laid exceeds 2250 km and will have an initial bandwidth capacity of 400 Gbps for supporting voice and data connectivity. The CANI- SMC has an eventual capacity of 6.4 terabits per fibre pair. One fibre pair is earmarked for exclusive use by Defence (A&N Command). Once the project is completed, citizens of A&N Islands will experience an overall improvement in ICT services nearly on par with that of mainland.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) are the project implementation agency (including operations for 5 years), nominated by DoT/USOF. The turnkey contract has been awarded to M/s NEC Technologies India Ltd. According to CGM, A&N Telecom Circle, the CANI-SMC project is being constructed at a total cost of around Rs. 1200 crores, funded by USoF, Govt. of India. The project will play a significant role in bridging the digital divide and for spreading the various e-governance programmes in the Emerald Islands.