Agartala set to be India's third internet gateway

Telecom network in Northeast to get fillip after Tripura provides intertiol route to add to Cheni & Mumbai

A Correspondent

Agartala, Dec 6: Decks have been cleared for Agartala to become the third internet gateway of the country after Mumbai and Cheni, with sigl tests from the submarine cable of Cox Bazar in Bangladesh giving expected results.

The sigl tests were conducted in presence of the General Mager of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Limited Sahidul Alam and the General Mager of the BSNL’s Tripura circle Rabi Chanda.

Bangladesh’s lone submarine cable operator, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), has already connected 10 GBPS bandwidth with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) cable last week at the Akhaura integrated checkpost.

They said all preparations are completed and they are awaiting green sigls of the governments of both the countries for formal launching of the service.

Chanda said the BSNL is now offering free SIM cards to the users of Tripura for availing the service. According to sources, both the service providers are planning to make the iuguration a gala event and the Prime Ministers of both the countries rendra Modi and Sheikh Hasi Wajed are expected to attend the function at Akhaura checkpost sometime in January. Once the service is launched, Agartala will become the third internet gateway of the country after Mumbai and Cheni.

The work for internet connection through Bangladesh was kicked off in July last year in presence of Union Telecommunication minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Rs 19.1- crore project was completed within a span of five months.

A team of BTCL led by its general mager Sahidul Alam met BSNL officials on Saturday to review the work and expressed satisfaction.

However, the work for installation of a rider machine which will customize the benefits to the users is still pending.

The machine will be brought from Cheni. Its transportation is getting delayed due the flood situation there.

Alam told the reporters that a 600-km long cable network already existed in Bangladesh. “We had to lay cable only for another 30 km to connect Agartala,” he said.

The ministry of Telecommunication has been prioritizing the project to strengthen telecom network in the Northeast and Eastern India to bring investments in information technology. Moreover, the Digital India initiative of the present government has also increased the pressure on existing intertiol gateways in Cheni and Mumbai, which the Tripura gateway is expected to relieve to a large extent.

Top Headlines

No stories found.
Sentinel Assam
www.sentinelassam.com