Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 10 August 2022
Just two years ago it was a pain for Islanders to stream a video or to download a large file from the internet. Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the CANI Submarine OFC on 10th August 2020, which changed the way Islanders live their lives.
Mobile Data Services were almost non-existent in the pre-CANI times. Although we had 4G in Port Blair long before the commissioning of CANI but seldom did the mobile data work.
Today India’s Southernmost Revenue Village, Shastri Nagar of Great Nicobar Island has both high-speed Airtel 4G as well as BSNL FTTH Broadband.
Today the Islanders don’t think twice before clicking on the download button as the cost of broadband internet has significantly reduced post commissioning of CANI. The Broadband in Andaman and Nicobar Islands was priced exorbitantly in the pre-CANI times as the telecom companies were dependent on costly satellite bandwidth to provide their services.
Today the residents of Port Blair enjoy high-speed Mobile Data as well as broadband services from various telecom service providers.
Airtel and Jio both offer great mobile data services. Post the launch of CANI, Airtel has expanded its presence to various new locations including Car Nicobar and Great Nicobar in the Nicobar Group. Airtel also launched its Xstream Broadband Services in Port Blair and according to sources, the company will expand its broadband offering to other Islands soon.
Jio has bagged a contract from USOF to provide 4G services in unconnected villages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Jio will soon connect the remotest villages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands such as Makachua and Afrabay with 4G Mobile Services.
The Islands has seen mushrooming of small tech startups who offer services like website designing, App Development, Food & Grocery Delivery etc.
CANI has also enabled Digital Media to thrive in the Islands as their viewer base has considerably increased post the launch of CANI due to the easy availability of the Internet.
I remember once a CGM of BSNL, A & N Telecom Circle commented on a question posed by me and said ‘Islanders are using the Internet for non-essential purposes like watching videos and playing games.’
Post the launch of CANI, telecom companies are now offering attractive plans to onboard customers who want to watch videos and play games on the internet.
CANI has enabled unparalleled development of the telecom sector in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Earlier, every other day the headlines of the local outlets spoke about some or the other problems in the telecom services, but post the launch of CANI, there are more happy stories about the telecom sector than sad ones.
The Islands have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. There are many remote Islands where there is considerable scope for development in the telecom sector. The remote Islanders of Katchal, Chowra, Teressa etc. face several problems every day and the telecom companies need to find solutions to provide relief to these special people who live in such remote locations and help the country to progress and move forward.
There is no doubt that CANI is one of the most successful projects of the Govt. of India dedicated for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.