Tripura and neighboring northeast states will get superfast reliable internet, similar to that of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, as Bangladesh government has agreed to share the unspent bandwidth in Cox Bazar with India.
BSNL took initiative to roll out this ambitious plan, which took pace after India’s PM Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh on June 5. According to the agreement, BSNL can use 10GB internet connectivity from the unspent bandwidth of Cox Bazar. BSNL can lay optical fibre cable network from Agartala to the integrated Check Post at Akhaura in the Indo-Bangla international border to connect Cox Bazar's submarine bandwidth.
BSNL will have to pay Rs. 7.2 crores annually to Bangladesh for the project. The implementation will occur in three to four months after Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad finalize the process. “To carry forward the plan, Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is scheduled to arrive here in the next couple of days,” D. P. Singh, Chief General Manager (NE-circle), BSNL said.
Northeast region will also gain an improvement in network, with BSNL using transmission line of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) to provide a better telecom service to the region. Tripura State Electrical Company Ltd’s existing higher power transmission lines can be also used to install a similar kind of network.
Moreover, BSNL will launch 173 hotspots to improve broadband service in northeast region. "There is a conception that mobile towers emit radiation which could be harmful for human body but it's not true at all. A separate wing - Term Cell functioning under Telecom Ministry is entrusted with the task to monitor radiation affect by mobile towers," Singh said regarding radiation effects of the mobile towers.
