The Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha regarding digital/broadband connectivity in Island Union Territories, stated that the Government of India has undertaken a large number of initiatives to improve digital/broadband connectivity in the Island Union Territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, bringing benefits to the public.
Previously, the two Island Union Territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep were connected through satellite bandwidth of about 4.1 Gbps and 1.7 Gbps respectively. Thus, only limited bandwidth was available on these remote Islands. Some of the developments to improve connectivity as put forward by the government are:
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Chennai Andaman Nicobar Islands (CANI) Optical Fiber Cable Project
The Chennai Andaman Nicobar Islands (CANI) Optical Fiber Cable Project, commissioned in the year 2020 at a cost of about Rs 1,224 Cr, has reportedly improved internet connectivity in the UT. The reply noted that under this project, a submarine cable was laid from Chennai to Port Blair, and further to seven other islands, covering about 85 percent of the UT's population. As a result of this project, the bandwidth utilisation has increased from 4.1 Gbps to 70.31 Gbps in the Islands.
FTTH Services
Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) services, providing high broadband speeds directly to homes and offices, have increased to about 34,500. Internet speed has increased from 100 Kbps to up to 300 Mbps, and total mobile connections have increased to about 7 lakh from 4.7 lakh in the Union Territory, said the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
5G Services
5G services were also launched in the islands, and there are 112 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) at present in the UT. As a result, the Islanders have benefited significantly through greater access to online Government to Citizen (G2C) services, tele-medicine, online education, development of tourism, e-commerce, enhanced participation in the digital economy (the number of digital transactions has increased from about 10 lakh to 2.2 crore), etc.
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Kochi Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Project (KLI Project)
According to the written reply, The Kochi Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Project (KLI Project), with a cost of about Rs 1,072 Cr, has connected the mainland (Kochi) and all the inhabited Islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep through submarine cable.
FTTH Connections
The KLI Project is designed to offer speeds up to 100 Gbps and support 4G as well as 5G networks. Trial traffic has been fed into the network. At present, 3,972 FTTH connections have been provided through this network.
The KLI Project is expected to benefit the public significantly through enhanced online access in the fields of education, tele-medicine, e-commerce, digital governance, tourism, etc.
