Agartala set to become India\\\'s 3rd int\\\'l internet gateway
Sunday, 5 July 2015
India Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is set to inaugurate the India-Bangladesh bandwidth connectivity programme in Agartala on July 10.
The announcement was made by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Chief General Manager (NE Circle) DP Singh while talking to the media on the occasion of celebration of Digital India Week at Agartala on Saturday.
"Agartala is set to become the third international internet gateway in the country after Mumbai and Chennai," Singh added.
He also said optical fibre cable from Agartala will be connected with 10 gigabit bandwidth from Bangladesh at Akhaura and through Dhaka, it will be connected with the submarine cable in Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh.
Initially, BSNL will lease 10Gbps bandwidth from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), Bangladesh's lone submarine cable operator.
Last year, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alternative telecom routing through Akhaura for improving telecommunication facilities in the region.
On June 5, India and Bangladesh signed the agreement with an aim to boost bilateral ties and develop a strong telecom network in Southeast Asia.
Singh said the telecom ministry has sanctioned Rs53.36 billion to BSNL to connect far-flung districts and villages of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya in mobile network and improve quality of service in Tripura, as well as national highways of the region, a BSS report said.
BSNL will set up 94 Wi-Fi hotspots in Tripura, 45 in Mizoram and 44 in Meghalaya soon besides, improvement of machineries and quality of service in the northeast, he added.