An undersea cable linking Amanda and Nicobar Islands will soon be laid

BSNL has floated a tender of Rs 900 crore (estimated) to lay submarine optical fibre cable (OFC) which would connect the mainland of Chennai to Andaman and Nicobar islands, according to a report by Infracircle.

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has floated a tender of Rs 900 crore (estimated) to lay submarine optical fibrecable (OFC) which would connect the mainland of Chennai to Andaman and Nicobar islands, according to a report by Infracircle. This move will boost internet connectivity in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The project which was approved by Cabinet in September 2016 will be funded through the Universal Service Obligatory Fund (USOF). 

The fund is used for providing telecom services in rural areas especially in areas where return on investment is low.

Andaman and Nicobar islands which are currently connected through satellite medium will now be connected through a submarine cable which will connect Chennai to Port Blair and five islands of Andaman and Nicobar including Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Havelock, Kamorta and Great Nicobar.

“We expect to finalise the international player who will lay the submarine optical fibre cable by January. The project will take at least two years to complete,” Anupam Shrivastava , BSNL’s Chairman and Managing Director was quoted as saying.

“The process is very tedious and it depends on weather conditions as well. The survey under the sea has to be very precise. A preliminary survey has already been done by TCIL (Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd). But once, an international player is on board, it will undertake its own detailed survey,” Shrivastava told the publication.