April 24, 2012
With connectivity being a major road block in North East’s development, the region is veering towards the Information Highway through an ambitious Rs 15,000 crore telecom sector revamp project. The idea is to nullify the geographical disadvantage and hostile terrain and take advantage of the information highway to boost the telecom sector which simultaneously would compliment the development of health, education, civil aviation & banking sectors.
According to a World Bank study, there has been a 1.4% increase in GDP growth for every 10% increase in broadband penetration as the information highway compliments the development of other core sector tremendously.
Under the project, the current Internet Protocol version (IPv)-4 would make way for the latest IPv-6. The State capitals of the region would get a bandwidth of at least 1,000 Gigabyte (GB) from the main link and the State district headquarters, 40 GB link speed. The connectivity link from district headquarters to the block level would be 10 GB.
Moreover, the Northeastern region would get a 10% share from the National Fibre Optic Network (NFON) scheme which has an earmarked budget of Rs 20,000 crore. NFON would provide broadband services right up to the village level.
Alternatively, State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is engaging with its counterpart in Bangladesh to have an Internet gateway connecting Guwahati and other cities from Cox Bazaar, Bangladesh. The region is currently linked with the rest of the virtual world through optical fibre links coming through Siliguri, West Bengal.
The region needs more than one link, so that uninterrupted Internet services would be made available. On an average, there are 40 breakages of optical fibre daily in the region now. The working group also suggested that all telephone towers must be converted to the latest digitalised units. The help of the Ministry of Non- Conventional Energy is being sought to address the issue of power by fitting solar power panels.
The working group said that the information highway would help the region in terms of having better health care services, education, civil aviation and banking services, which were the other priority sectors that were discussed and suggestions noted down for improvement.
“The region’s shortfall in doctors and teachers for higher education can be addressed with the help of information technology. The civil aviation and banking sector would also get tremendous boost once the telecom sector is revamped with the latest technology,” the senior NEC member said.