Telecom panel approves under sea connectivity from Kochi to Lakshadweep

The Digital Communication Commission (DCC) at its meeting on Friday approved submarine fibre cable connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep island, under which 11 islands will be connected through 2,041 km of submarine cables.

The proposal that entails a ₹1,072-crore outlay — capital expenditure of ₹837 crore and operating expenses of ₹235 crore — will require the Cabinet’s approval and after award of the contract, will take 24 months from the date of the approval to complete the project of two-way connectivity.

“The existing bandwidth available there is about 1GBPS. This by June 2020 should increase to about 1.71 GBPS. We are hopeful that this work is awarded in the next three months,” Anhsu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), told reporters here after the meeting.

DoT has also approved the last mile connectivity under the BharatNet — of the two WiFi access points already approved earlier, one will remain as an access point and the other will be used to provide fibre to the home (FTTH) to connect five institutions in a gram panchayat – it can be a school, a healthcare centre or a PDS (public distribution system) shop, Prakash said.

In another important decision, the DCC has approved using of VSAT (very small aperture terminal) to provide connectivity to forces (Defence/ Paramilitary) in border areas or remote areas. They can use the bandwidth available through VSATs.