By Dan Swinhoe
NEC last week announced the completion of the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) cable system connecting the islands to Kochi on India’s west coast on behalf of state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Spanning approximately 1,870 kilometers, the system offers an initial capacity of 2×100 Gbps, expandable up to 1,600 Gbps per fiber pair.
The system connects the port city of Kochi with 11 Lakshadweep islands: Agatti, Andrott, Amini, Bangaram, Bitra, Chetlat, Kadmat, Kavaratti, Kiltan, Kelpeni, and Minicoy.
Corporate officer & SVP – head of the global smart city business at NEC Corporation, and president & CEO of NEC Corporation India, Aalok Kumar said: “The successful completion of the KLI cable project, our second venture with BSNL, marks a pivotal moment in NEC’s collaboration with the Government of India towards building a connected nation. This initiative not only puts Lakshadweep on the digital map, it also galvanizes socio-economic growth of the region”
BSNL awarded NEC India the project in September 2021, completing it ahead of schedule in June 2023. Developed under the Government of India’s ‘Digital India’ Mission, the cable was inaugurated recently by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
In 2020, NEC completed a cable system connecting Chennai on mainland India with the eastern Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N Islands) for BSNL.
“Following the successful completion of an optical submarine cable system connecting Chennai, India, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N Islands) in December 2020, NEC is honored to yet again take part in this prestigious project which we hope will open a wide range of opportunities for the people on the Lakshadweep Islands,” added managing director, submarine network division, NEC Atsushi Kuwahara.
Lakshadweep is an archipelago of 35 islands 200 to 440 km (120 to 270 mi) off the Malabar Coast of India. Around 65,000 people live on the islands. This is the first subsea cable landing on the islands.
Kochi is also the landing point for the SAFE and SeaMeWe-3 cables.
