AGARTALA, Dec 1 (TIWN): Tripura’s milestone to emerge as the Third internet gateway is not so far as DGM (CFA) U.C. Bhowmik assured that the optical fiber laying work is likely to get complete by January 2015. He further said that tools, machineries, equipments, which have already reached to Guwahati and Engineers at Guwahati are monitoring well to cater the materials to Agartala.The much waited project of Internet Bandwidth from Bangladesh’s submarine cable for the up gradation of the internet services of the State seems to get connected in few days as the authority is working round the clock to complete the process of laying the submarine cable line upto Aukhaura in the given deadline.It is worthy to mention that the sources from Bangladesh assured the trial run of the transmission and the export would begin from Tuesday and formally start from Dec 7. The trial run would be conducted to check that the transmission is smooth.The cable laid from India’s Agartala was linked with Bangladesh’s transmission line at Akhaura.India-Bangladesh surplus under-sea internet bandwidth (10 Gbps) sale agreement was signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic June 2015 visit to Dhaka in presence of Hon. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.As there was delay in laying the optical fibre line, the deadline in the August could not be met.

India and Bangladesh signed pact on sharing Internet bandwidth as a result of which the submarine cable providing Net to Bangladesh will travel to Agartala from Cox's Bazar via Brahmanbaria. At present Bangladesh is connected to SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable with 200gbps bandwidth, of which it uses only 30gbps.

The country will be linked to the second submarine cable -- SEA-ME-WE-5 – under a consortium in December next year. As a result it will get an additional 1300gbps bandwidth.

Bangladesh has agreed to sell off its unused submarine Internet bandwidth to India's state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for $ 1.2 million (Rs 7.7 crores) a year.

In April the cabinet approved the draft agreement claiming the export would not affect internet services in Bangladesh.

As per the agreement, Bangladesh will lease out 10gbps (gigabyte per second) bandwidth on a commercial basis. From this, the country will earn $1.2 million a year.

The agreement will be effective for three years.

Depending on India’s requirements, the bandwidth can be increased to 40gbps.

However, the lacklustre attitude of the state government, IT Minister Tapan Chakraborty and IT Secretary Puneet Agarwal is least bothered to place any comment of the update of the Internet bandwidth and is never willing to speak to the media. Negligence of the IT Industry backed by the ruling government shows that only due to the least interest of the government has yet delayed the commissioning of the internet bandwidth project.

It is to be mentioned here that on July 11,Saturday, 2015, Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad laid the foundation stone for an international internet gateway through Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

Agartala, Tripura's capital city, would be the third international internet gateway in India after Mumbai and Chennai.

Agartala could emerge as the hub of the IT industry in Northeast India if the State Government moves fast enough to create necessary infrastructures. Tripura will get 10Gbps (Giga bits per second) Internet Band With from Bangladesh’s submarine cable for the up gradation of the internet services of the State.