The Minister of State within the Ministry of Dwelling Affairs, in a written reply within the Rajya Sabha concerning digital/broadband connectivity in Island Union Territories, acknowledged that the Authorities of India has undertaken numerous initiatives to enhance digital/broadband connectivity within the Island Union Territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, bringing advantages to the general public.

Beforehand, the 2 Island Union Territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep had been related by means of satellite tv for pc bandwidth of about 4.1 Gbps and 1.7 Gbps respectively. Thus, solely restricted bandwidth was out there on these distant Islands. Among the developments to enhance connectivity as put ahead by the federal government are:

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Chennai Andaman Nicobar Islands (CANI) Optical Fiber Cable Mission

The Chennai Andaman Nicobar Islands (CANI) Optical Fiber Cable Mission, commissioned within the yr 2020 at a price of about Rs 1,224 Cr, has reportedly improved web connectivity within the UT. The reply famous that below this venture, a submarine cable was laid from Chennai to Port Blair, and additional to seven different islands, overlaying about 85 p.c of the UT’s inhabitants. Because of this venture, the bandwidth utilisation has elevated from 4.1 Gbps to 70.31 Gbps within the Islands.

FTTH Providers

Fiber-to-the-Dwelling (FTTH) companies, offering excessive broadband speeds on to houses and places of work, have elevated to about 34,500. Web velocity has elevated from 100 Kbps to as much as 300 Mbps, and whole cell connections have elevated to about 7 lakh from 4.7 lakh within the Union Territory, mentioned the Minister of State within the Ministry of Dwelling Affairs.

5G Providers

5G companies had been additionally launched within the islands, and there are 112 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) at current within the UT. Because of this, the Islanders have benefited considerably by means of larger entry to on-line Authorities to Citizen (G2C) companies, tele-medicine, on-line schooling, growth of tourism, e-commerce, enhanced participation within the digital economic system (the variety of digital transactions has elevated from about 10 lakh to 2.2 crore), and so forth.

Additionally Learn: Lakshadweep Sees the Addition of 5G BTS in October 2023

Kochi Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Mission (KLI Mission)

In keeping with the written reply, The Kochi Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Mission (KLI Mission), with a price of about Rs 1,072 Cr, has related the mainland (Kochi) and all of the inhabited Islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep by means of submarine cable.

FTTH Connections

The KLI Mission is designed to supply speeds as much as 100 Gbps and help 4G in addition to 5G networks. Trial visitors has been fed into the community. At current, 3,972 FTTH connections have been supplied by means of this community.

The KLI Mission is anticipated to profit the general public considerably by means of enhanced on-line entry within the fields of schooling, tele-medicine, e-commerce, digital governance, tourism, and so forth.