Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the submarine optical fiber cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair through video conferencing on Monday. The foundation stone for this project was laid by Modi on Dec. 30, 2018 at Port Blair. Modi had said that the opening of the submarine optical fiber cable in Andaman and Nicobar Islands will ensure high-speed broadband connectivity, fast mobile and landline telecom services and will give a big boost to the local economy. Soon after the inauguration, Modi said that the people of Andaman and Nicobar will get all the digital benefits through cable network including online education, better Internet like all citizens of the country., adding work is ongoing to strengthen the infrastructure including better connectivity facility in all the islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Andaman and Nicobar is set to develop as a hub for development of port related activities in the coming times, with Andaman and Nicobar being competitively close to many ports of the world. All the modern infrastructural facilities being built in Andaman and Nicobar will also speed up the economy related to the maritime sector, Businessleague.in reported. The submarine OFC Link will deliver bandwidth of 2√ó200 gigabits per second (Gbps) between Chennai and Port Blair and 2√ó100 Gbps between Port Blair and other islands. The provision of reliable, robust and high-speed telecommunications and broadband facilities in these islands will be a historic achievement from the point of view of consumers as well as for strategic and governance reasons. Telecom and broadband connectivity will boost tourism and employment generation in the islands, accelerate the economy and increase living standards. According to the PMO's press release "Better connectivity will also help in delivery of e-governance services like telemedicine and tele-education, small enterprises will benefit from opportunities in e-commerce, while educational institutions for e-learning and knowledge sharing Will use increased availability of bandwidth." Earlier, Modi had said that this archipelago would play a major role in self-sufficient India. — Agencies
