The Hindu Business Line : BSNL plans undersea cable to Singapore

TO expand its international long distance (ILD) business, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is planning to lay an undersea cable connecting Port Blair to Singapore. This will be the second undersea cable project that BSNL would be undertaking after the joint venture with Sri Lanka.

Mr S. K. Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL, said, "We are evaluating the Singapore leg and would be arriving at a decision shortly." India already has a cable system jointly owned by Bharti Tele-Ventures and SingTel that connects Chennai to Singapore.

Though BSNL has its own ILD licence, a significant chunk of the traffic generated by the State-owned company is being routed through a private operator's network, since it does not have its network in place. Recently, BSNL invited bids for carrying ILD traffic to 11 destinations. While Reliance Infocomm emerged as the lowest bidder in five sectors, the Tata-managed Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd was the winner of six sectors. India's ILD market size is around Rs 4,300 crore, of which BSNL's 42 million fixed-line subscribers account for a significant share. Other cable networks connecting India to the rest of the world like the Reliance-owned Falcon and Se-Me-We-4 are also set to get functional.

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