The Chennai-Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) submarine cable systems project will be completed tentatively by 2020, an official of the Japan-based NEC Corporation, the company implementing the project, stated. The submarine cable and repeaters cable have been manufactured and it will take another one year to be completed fixing them.

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited had placed an order with NEC Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. (NECTI) to conceptualise and implement an optical submarine cable system connecting Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. NEC Corporation, the parent company of NECTI, will manufacture the optical submarine cable at its facility in Japan and provide technical assistance during the turnkey implementation, Atushi Kuwahara, Head of Administration, Submarine Network Division, NEC Corporation told PTI in Tokyo.

The 2,300 km long undersea cable system will provide the A&N Islands with sufficient bandwidth for supporting voice and data connectivity that enable the implementation of e-governance initiatives, such as the establishment of enterprises and e-commerce facilities. Using internet connection through submarine cables is more reliable and cost-efficient than satellite communication, Kuwahara pointed out.

Besides CANI, the company is undertaking two more cable projects — 3,500-km long Hong Kong-Guam (HK-G) cable system project and 9,500-km long Japan-Guam-Hong Kong (JGA) project. The total value of the project, however, is unknown.