Indian Railways Approves ₹398 Cr Optical Fibre Backbone Project in W. Railway to Boost Kavach Rollout

Indian Railways has sanctioned a ₹398.36 crore project to strengthen communication infrastructure in Western Railway by laying a 4×48 Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) backbone across Ahmedabad and Ratlam divisions. This initiative is part of the larger ₹27,693 crore Kavach-LTE umbrella work under the 2024–25 programme, aimed at modernising signalling and enhancing safety.

Kavach is India’s indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) developed by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). It prevents train collisions by automatically controlling train speed and braking in case of danger. Features include automatic braking, speed restriction enforcement, neutral section protection, and RFID-based train tracking.

Project Highlights

• Total sanctioned cost: ₹398.36 crore
• Umbrella work: “Provision of Kavach with communication backbone of LTE on balance routes of Indian Railways (2024–25)”
• Overall umbrella cost: ₹27,693 crore
• Western Railway sub-umbrella allocation: ₹2,800 crore
• Coverage: 1929 Route Kilometres (RKm)
  • Ahmedabad Division: 1456RKm
  • Ratlam Division: 473 RKm

Purpose and Benefits

• Enhanced communication backbone to improve capacity, reliability, and efficiency
• Support for Kavach, India’s indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System
• Modern signalling systems with LTE-based backbone
• Operational efficiency for passenger safety and freight operations

Government Context

• PIB highlighted record capital expenditure of ₹2,62,200 crore in FY 2024–25
• Kavach implementation is a national priority with LTE rollouts across zones
• RDSO has published specifications for Kavach and LTE integration

Strategic Significance

• Digital transformation towards a world-class railway network
• Safety enhancement through collision prevention and train control
• Regional impact on key industrial and passenger corridors
• Alignment with national freight loading goals for 2030

The Kavach-LTE umbrella work is a large-scale Indian Railways programme approved for 2024–25, with a sanctioned cost of ₹27,693 crore, aimed at deploying the indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (Kavach) across balance routes by building a robust Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based communication backbone. It integrates modern optical fibre cable (OFC) infrastructure to enable seamless, reliable data transmission for signalling and safety systems.

Optical fibre is the backbone of Kavach-LTE because it provides the high-speed, reliable, and low-latency communication channels needed for real-time signalling, train control, and safety data transmission across Indian Railways. Without fibre, Kavach’s automatic train protection features cannot function seamlessly at scale.  

Why Optical Fibre is Critical for Kavach-LTE

• High Bandwidth: Optical fibre supports massive data flows, enabling Kavach to transmit train location, speed, and braking commands instantly.
• Low Latency: Fibre ensures near real-time communication, which is essential for collision avoidance systems where milliseconds matter

Kavach-LTE Umbrella Work in Indian Railways

The Kavach-LTE umbrella work is a large-scale Indian Railways programme approved for 2024–25, with a sanctioned cost of ₹27,693 crore. It aims to deploy the indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (Kavach) across balance routes by building a robust Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based communication backbone. This integrates modern optical fibre cable (OFC) infrastructure to enable seamless, reliable data transmission for signalling and safety systems.

What is Kavach?

• Kavach is India’s indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) developed by RDSO.
• It prevents train collisions by automatically controlling train speed and braking in case of danger.
• Features include automatic braking, speed restriction enforcement, neutral section protection, and RFID-based train tracking.

Role of LTE Backbone

• LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a modern wireless communication standard providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity.
• Indian Railways is deploying LTE-based backbone networks to support real-time signalling, train control, and Kavach data transmission.
• This ensures interoperability, reliability, and scalability across different railway zones.

Umbrella Work 2024–25

• Title: “Provision of Kavach with communication backbone of LTE on balance routes of Indian Railways”
• Sanctioned cost: ₹27,693 crore under Works Programme 2024–25 (PH-33)
• Scope: Covers balance routes not yet equipped with Kavach, ensuring nationwide rollout.
• Western Railway sub-umbrella: ₹2,800 crore allocation, under which the ₹398.36 crore OFC project in Ahmedabad and Ratlam divisions has been sanctioned.

Strategic Importance

• Safety: Kavach reduces human error risks, preventing collisions and enhancing passenger security.
• Modernisation: LTE backbone supports digital signalling systems and future upgrades.
• Efficiency: Improved communication infrastructure boosts freight and passenger operations.
• Scalability: Umbrella work ensures uniform deployment across Indian Railways, avoiding fragmented systems.

Conclusion

The ₹398.36 crore OFC backbone project in Ahmedabad and Ratlam divisions is not just a communication upgrade—it is a critical enabler for Kavach. By integrating LTE-based signalling and modern fibre infrastructure, Indian Railways is reinforcing its commitment to passenger safety, operational efficiency, and digital modernization.

SoftBank and Cisco Light Up Japan’s First All-Optical Metro Network — Slashing Energy Use by 90%

In a bold move to redefine urban connectivity and sustainability, SoftBank Corp. has partnered with Cisco to launch Japan’s first All-Optical Metro Network. The initiative, announced in October 2025, marks a major leap in telecom infrastructure—one that promises to cut energy consumption by up to 90% while preparing Japan’s cities for the data demands of the AI era.

The Technology Behind the Transformation

Scope of All optical network deployment

At the heart of this next-generation network lies Cisco’s Routed Optical Networking architecture, a paradigm shift that eliminates the need for traditional optical-electrical-optical (O-E-O) conversions. Instead of converting light signals into electrical ones at each node—a process that consumes significant power and space—the new system enables end-to-end optical transmission across metro networks.

• Cisco 8000 Series Routers: Built for scale and efficiency, supporting 400G and beyond. These routers enable massive throughput with minimal energy draw.
• Cisco Silicon One Q200 Chips: Custom-built ASICs delivering up to 7x the switching capacity of previous generations while consuming half the power.
• Segment Routing and EVPN: Advanced routing protocols optimize traffic flow, reduce latency, and simplify operations across metro domains.

Why It Matters: Energy, AI, and the Future of Connectivity

SoftBank’s new metro network isn’t just about speed—it’s about sustainability. By removing power-hungry transponders and simplifying the network architecture, the all-optical design dramatically reduces energy use and carbon emissions. This aligns with SoftBank’s broader commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

• Massive bandwidth for data-intensive applications
• Lower latency for real-time services like autonomous vehicles and smart cities
• Reduced operational complexity through converged infrastructure

Deployment and Roadmap

The first phase of the rollout was completed in Osaka Prefecture in September 2025. SoftBank plans to expand the network nationwide by 2027, building on its nationwide core optical network completed in 2023. This metro layer will serve as the connective tissue between core and access networks, enabling seamless, high-speed data flow across Japan’s urban centers.

A Strategic Alliance

This collaboration deepens the longstanding relationship between SoftBank and Cisco, who have worked together on multiple network modernization efforts. According to SoftBank’s CTO Keiichi Makizono, “This next-generation network will not only support our growing data demands but also contribute significantly to our sustainability goals.”

Kevin Wollenweber, SVP and GM of Cisco Networking, echoed the sentiment:

Our Routed Optical Networking solution is designed to help customers like SoftBank build a more scalable, efficient, and sustainable internet for the future.

Vodafone Offers Alternative Path for Mumbai–Europe Connection With New IEX Undersea Cable Station At Greece's Crete Island

Vodafone Lands India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) Cable in Tympaki Crete for Alternative Path of Connectivity

Vodafone Greece has successfully connected the island of Crete to the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) subsea cable system. This new connection is facilitated by a newly constructed landing station in Tympaki, located on the Crete island's southern coast.

The new landing station at Crete Island offers increased data capacity and network resilience to Crete's infrastructure. Landing stations play a critical role in enabling global communication and internet connectivity by facilitating the connection of subsea cables to terrestrial networks

The IEX connection provides an alternative path for data traffic that bypasses the traditionally crowded northern Mediterranean routes. This can help reduce congestion and improve data transfer speeds and reliability.

The IEX subsea cable system, which spans nearly 10,000 kilometers, connects Mumbai to Europe and extends to regions across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East . This new route provides an alternative path for data traffic, bypassing the traditionally crowded northern Mediterranean routes.

The Tympaki landing station is located in southern Crete, away from the northern part of the island where most subsea cables have been concentrated. This strategic positioning helps diversify the network and provides additional redundancy.

A landing station, also known as a cable landing station (CLS) or submarine cable station, is a facility located at the coastline where undersea fiber optic cables carrying international telecommunications and internet traffic are connected to terrestrial networks.

Landing stations serve as the endpoint for submarine cables that span across oceans and seas, connecting different countries and continents. They provide the interface between the submarine cables and the terrestrial infrastructure, allowing data and communication signals to be transferred to local networks.

These stations enable connectivity to various services, such as internet service providers (ISPs), telecommunication networks, and other data centers.

This new development strengthens the connectivity between India and Europe, providing an alternative route for data traffic that bypasses the traditionally crowded northern Mediterranean routes. This can lead to improved data transfer speeds and reliability for users in both regions.

For Vodafone Idea, this expansion aligns with their commitment to enhancing global connectivity. It positions Vodafone Idea as a key player in the global telecommunications network, potentially attracting more customers and partnerships. The connection integrates Vodafone Idea into a global network that spans multiple continents, providing more robust and diverse connectivity options for customers.

Overall, the new connection via the IEX landing station in Crete enhances Vodafone's network infrastructure, offering improved connectivity, increased capacity, and greater resilience compared to existing connections.

Nokia to Acquire Infinera for $2.3 Billion

Nokia has recently announced its plan to acquire Infinera, a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors. The acquisition aims to create a highly scaled and truly global optical business with increased in-house technology capabilities and vertical integration.

The transaction values Infinera at $6.65 per share or an enterprise value of US$ 2.3 billion.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Nokia and Infinera. The deal is targeted to close during the first half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

The acquisition strengthens Nokia's optical position, particularly in North America. It accelerates Nokia's customer diversification strategy, expanding its presence in the webscale market. Infinera has built a solid presence in the North America optical market, representing ~60% of its sales, which will improve Nokia’s optical scale in the region and complement Nokia’s strong positions in APAC, EMEA and Latin America.

Nokia expects the transaction to be accretive to its comparable operating profit and EPS in year, with over 10% comparable EPS accretion projected by 2027.

The combined business aims to accelerate the development of new optical products and solutions to benefit customers. Nokia believes this aligns well with its strategy, as webscale customers represent the fastest-growing segment of the market.

Overall, Nokia's acquisition of Infinera is a significant move to enhance its optical networking capabilities and expand its global reach.

In 2023, Nokia acquired Fenix Group by adding Fenix Group's innovative broadband tactical communications products to its existing solutions portfolio. Additionally, Nokia recently entered into an agreement with the French State to sell its leading submarine networks business, ASN.

For the 1st Time, The Incredible Amazon Rainforest Gets Fiber Broadband Network

Known as the 'Lungs of the Earth' and the world's largest rain forest — Amazon Rainforest — has been equipped with a fiber broadband network. This groundbreaking project was carried out by Nokia in partnership with Global Fiber Peru, and the network is deployed underwater. 

Since Amazon has the world's largest river system and the most biologically diverse place on Earth containing millions of species, most of them still undescribed, the fiber cables used for subaquatic deployment are specially designed to withstand the underwater environment, including pressure, temperature variations, and potential damage from wildlife or natural occurrences.

The deployment of this subaquatic optical, IP, and XGS-PON fiber broadband network is a significant step towards bridging the digital divide in the incredible Amazon region.

The network is set to connect over 400 communities and more than 500,000 users across the heart of the Amazon rainforest, particularly in the three-border region shared by Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. This includes the localities of Iquitos and Santa Rosa de Yaraví in Peru, Leticia in Colombia, and Tabatinga in Brazil, which now have access to ultra-fast, multi-gigabit broadband services.

Dubbed as "Amazon Fiber", the first mega project with a deployment that has more than 1,600 km of subfluvial fiber optics, this initiative is expected to have a profound impact on the social, economic, and educational development of the region, providing high-quality internet access to thousands of people for the first time.

The deployment of the fiber network underwater in the Amazon Rainforest was a complex process that involved several steps and specialized equipment. Before laying the fiber cables, a detailed survey of the riverbed is conducted to determine the best route and identify any potential obstacles.

The fiber cable is laid on the riverbed using specialized ships or barges equipped with cable-laying gear. The process is carefully monitored to ensure the cable follows the planned route and is laid down smoothly. Once the cable is in place, it may be buried under the riverbed for additional protection or covered with protective materials to prevent damage.

After the cable is laid, it is connected to the network on land, and extensive testing is conducted to ensure the integrity and performance of the connection.

Nokia said that regular maintenance is required to ensure the network remains operational. This can include inspections and repairs if any part of the network is damaged or degraded. Underwater networks are more challenging to access for maintenance and repairs. Any issues that arise require specialized equipment and trained personnel to address them.

Technology Stack

In the case of Nokia's project with Global Fiber Peru, the companies deployed a complete solution that included their 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), 7750 service routers, 7250 interconnect routers, 7210 services access systems (SAS), network service platform (NSP), FX 8 and FX 16 optical line terminals (OLT), fiber optical network terminals (ONTs), and Nokia Beacon 1 devices to ensure a premium Wi-Fi experience within customer premises.

The deployment was made in collaboration with FYCO, a local partner specialized in fiber telecom networks in Latin America. They also provided training, professional services, and maintenance services as part of the project.

This project is a significant achievement as it bridges a considerable digital gap in remote areas previously inaccessible by traditional means. It's a testament to the advancements in technology and the commitment to providing connectivity even in the most challenging environments.

For the 1st Time Since Independence, Lakshadweep Getting Connected Through Submarine Optic Fibre Cable

• PM inaugurates Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fibre Connection
• Project will ensure 100 times faster Internet for the people of Lakshadweep: PM
• Enable faster and more reliable internet services, telemedicine, e-governance, educational initiatives, digital banking, digital currency usage, digital literacy, etc.
• The project is funded by Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecommunications

Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi today, in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, inaugurated Kochi-Lakshadweep islands submarine optical fiber connection (KLI-SOFC) project among various developmental projects worth more than Rs 1,150 crore covering a wide range of sectors including technology, energy, water resources, healthcare and education.

The KLI-SOFC project will lead to an increase in internet speed unlocking new possibilities & opportunities. For the first time since independence, Lakshadweep will be connected through Submarine Optic Fibre Cable. The dedicated submarine OFC will ensure a paradigm shift in communication infrastructure in the Lakshadweep islands, enabling faster and more reliable internet services, telemedicine, e-governance, educational initiatives, digital banking, digital currency usage, digital literacy etc.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister recalled the guarantee given by him in 2020 about ensuring fast internet within 1,000 days. He said, “Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Connection (KLI - SOFC) project has been dedicated to people today and will ensure 100 times faster Internet for the people of Lakshadweep”. He added, “This will improve facilities like government services, medical treatment, education and digital banking. The potential of developing Lakshadweep as a logistics hub will get strength from this”.

The Prime Minister assured the people of Lakshadweep that the government will continue to take every possible step to ensure their ease of living, ease of travel and ease of doing business. The Prime Minister highlighted that “Lakshadweep will play a strong role in the creation of a Viksit Bharat”.

Administrator of UT of Lakshadweep, Shri Praful Patel was present on the occasion among others.

Background of Kochi-Lakshadweep Submarine OFC (KLI) Project

The need for digitally connecting the Lakshadweep Islands through a high capacity submarine cable link with the main land has been felt for some time. Earlier, the only means of communication with the Islands was through Satellite medium, which had limited bandwidth capacity and was not able to meet the growing bandwidth demand.

The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) took immediate action and conceptualized the Kochi-Lakshadweep Submarine OFC Project (KLI project). The KLI project has been completed well within the timelines.

In the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Cable (KLI) project submarine cable connectivity from Mainland (Kochi) to eleven Lakshadweep Islands namely, Kavaratti, Agatti, Amini, Kadmat, Chetlet, Kalpeni, Minicoy, Androth, Kiltan, Bangaram and Bitra has been extended.

The project is funded by Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecommunication.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was the Project Executing Agency and the work was awarded to M/s NEC Corporation India Pvt Ltd through Global Open Tendering process. Major activities related to the project includes Marine Route Survey, Submarine Cable laying, Civil Construction of CLS stations, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of End Terminals (SLTE).

Highlights of the KLI Project:

• Total link distance: 1,868 kilometres.
• Total cost of project : Rs 1072 crore plus taxes.

Benefit of the KLI Project:

The project will play a significant role in achieving the objective of ‘Digital India’ and ‘National Broadband Mission’ and for rolling out of various e-governance projects of Government of India in Lakshadweep Islands.

E-Governance, Tourism, Education, Health, Commerce and Industries will get a boost. It will also help in further improvement in standards of living of the people in Island and will accelerate overall social and economic development in these areas.

Population of Lakshadweep Islands will be provided high speed wireline broadband connectivity.

High speed broadband will be provided through FTTH and 5G/4G Mobile network.
The bandwidth created under this project will be available to all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to strengthen their telecom services in the Lakshadweep Islands.

Fibre Broadband N/w Excitel Raises $11.5 Mn From Existing and New EU Investors, Plans to Expand to 100 Cities by the End of 2022

The company plan to make significant investments from the amount raised to enter new markets, enhance its technology stack and customer experience

Focuses on building a world-class leadership team to put the company on a Unicorn path by investing a small portion in recruitment

Excitel, India’s fastest-growing and leading fibre broadband network, raised $11.5Mn in equity from existing and new tech investors based out of Europe. The freshly raised capital will help Excitel accelerate its mission to become one of the largest Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service providers in the country. From a current subscriber base of 0.7 Million, Excitel aims to increase its customer base to 10 Million while also expanding operations to 100 cities by the end of 2022.

With the raised funds, Excitel will also be making significant investments to enhance its technology stack as well as its customer experience, along with foraying​ into newer markets. Excitel has expanded its operations to Mumbai and the Western region in Q1 FY23 to provide world-class FTTH services at competitive prices. Excitel will also be investing towards onboarding talent to strengthen its operational and technical capabilities.

Talking about the roadmap ahead, Vivek Raina, CEO & Co-Founder, Excitel, said, “ Excitel has established itself as a brand that is helping bridge the digital divide by providing world-class FTTH services at affordable rates across the country. This year we are fixated on establishing ourselves in newer geographies, extending futuristic tech solutions while at the same time working towards hiring our next rung of leaders to create an ecosystem that sales rapidly. The fresh round of liquidity that we have raised from existing and new investors will go a long way in helping the brand’s journey to becoming the leading internet service provider in the country.”

Excitel recently announced the launch of its services in the financial capital, Mumbai and aims to replicate its success in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and other cities by offering high-speed internet with quick service resolution in Mumbai. The company will not only cater to structured areas but also provide services to the unstructured areas of the city.

Excitel has been working and striving to develop solutions that are customised to meet the needs of different customers. Understanding the growing demand and dependence on high-speed internet to sustain multiple functioning, the company is running a pilot a 400 Mbps speed data plan for the city of Mumbai starting at just INR 499/month.

Excitel, India’s leading, and fastest-growing broadband network is the preferred streaming platform for 700,000 customers in 29 cities. Since its inception in September 2015, Excitel has been revolutionising broadband services and leading the adoption of fibre broadband in India. Excitel was also the first internet service provider to introduce the concept of truly unlimited data plans allowing consumers to access unlimited data at the promised speed without any caveats or conditions. Ookla recognizes Excitel as the 4th fastest and best-rated broadband network in India. According to TRAI, the company in 2020 was also amongst the Top 10 ISPs in India.

Cognifiber, which is Replacing Computer Chips with Fiber-Optic Cables Raises $6 Mn To Enable Computing at The Speed of Light

Surpassing Moore’s Law: Cognifiber Raises $6 Million Series A to Bring In-Fiber Photonic Processing to Market

In-fiber photonic processing enables computing at the speed of light, breaking the barriers of current technologies. “Our fiber optics-based system delivers a 100-fold boost in speed while reducing power consumption by 80%.

- said Dr. Eyal Cohen, Co-founder & CEO of CogniFiber

CogniFiber, a deep technology company developing advanced in-fiber photonic processing systems, raised a $6 million Series A round of funding. 

The funding round was led by Chartered Group, a private equity firm specializing in disruptive technologies with a far-reaching presence in Europe and Asia. This investment opens the path to break through current processing speed barriers, unlocking many AI-driven business opportunities.

Today’s hyper-scale data centers and edge devices alike run on silicon-based processors. Moore’s law, the standard trend in processor evolution, predicts that the capability of chips will double every two years without increasing in size. This capability is fast approaching a wall as the industry struggles with today’s barriers while maintaining efficiency and reliability. Complex computations can now be done on the fly with light carried through optical fibers.

Dr. Eyal Cohen

 
“This new ability to compute complex algorithms in a fraction of the time will leave Moore’s law in the rearview mirror,” said Dr. Eyal Cohen, Co-founder & CEO of CogniFiber. “In-fiber processing allows for the realization of a 100-fold boost in processing speed and efficiency.” Beyond leaping over the physical limitations of semiconductors, fiber-based processing radically cuts the cost of computing, which demands 1% of the world's electricity to operate and cool servers. This is even more important for Edge micro centers where high performance needs to co-exist with limited power resources.

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky

 
Before officially founding the company in 2018, CogniFiber’s co-founders spent years bringing the technology to life, including working within Intel’s Ingenuity Partner Program. “Senior engineers at Intel were excited to drill down into every aspect of our technology, reviewing its viability to revolutionize how computers operate today,” said Professor Ze’ev Zalevsky, Co-founder & CTO of CogniFiber. “This technology will help deliver on the promise of photonic computing to safety, cybersecurity, autonomous driving, AI-developed medicines, and countless other applications.”

Working with industry leaders and Japanese investors to promote this revolutionary technology, the Series A funding will go towards creating and delivering a robust and scalable product to market. “The balance between Israel’s agile approach to innovation and the tradition of high-quality, value-focused technologies amongst Japanese investors creates excellent synergy where entrepreneurs feel they have true partners,” said Eyal Agmoni, Founder and Chairman of Chartered Group. “Together, these parties will usher in a new era of photonic computing”.

Every Village in India will be Connected with Optical Fibre Cable in Next 1,000 Days - PM Modi

Each village to be connected with optical fibre cable (OFC) connectivity in next 1000 days: PM Shri Narendra Modi

Lakshadweep also to be connected with undersea optical fibre cable in 1,000 days

“In the coming 1000 days, every village in the country will be connected with optical fibre cable,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address on the occasion of 74th Independence Day earlier today. Shri Modi mentioned that before 2014, only 5 dozen panchayats in the country were connected with optical fiber cable.

In the last five years, nearly 1.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country have been connected with optical fiber cable. He further added that Participation of rural India and villages in Digital India is very important for balanced development of India. To enable this we will rapidly expand our optical fibre network. This will reach all the 6 lakh villages within 1,000 days.

Expressing his gratitude to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for this important announcement, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister for Electronics & IT and Communications tweeted, “Today you have entrusted Department of Telecommunications with the responsibility to connect all the villages of India by optical fibre Internet in 1000 days. It's a game changer for Digital India. With your inspiration we will do it.”

During the 74th Independence Day speech PM also announced that in the next 1000 days, Lakshadweep will be connected with submarine optical fiber cable. "We have around 1,300 islands. Keeping in mind their geographical location and their significance in the development of the nation, work to begin new projects in some of these islands is underway. We have chosen some islands for rapid development.

Recently, we connected Andaman and Nicobar Islands with an undersea cable for a better internet. Next, we will connect Lakshadweep," he said while delivering his Independence Day speech from the iconic Red Fort. Earlier this week PM Modi inaugurated the first-ever undersea optic fiber link between Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar to ensure high-speed broadband connectivity for the Union Territory (UT) at par with services in the cities like Delhi and Chennai.

While commenting on announcement for high speed Internet services in Lakshadweep Islands, Shri Prasad said in a tweet that today Prime Minister set a target of 1000 days to provide submarine optical fibre connectivity to these islands. Like linking Andaman & Nicobar islands Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications will fast track this as well.

OFC connectivity to the villages and submarine OFC to the Lakshadeep islands will help the people in rural areas/villages and those in Lakshadweep islands in getting cheaper & better connectivity and all the benefits of Digital India, especially in improving online education, tele-medicine, banking system, online trading, boosting tourism and skill development etc.