Security nod to Indo-Pak cable link

Bharti Airtel Ltd, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Reliance Infocomm given the go-ahead.

Close to six decades after Partition, India and Pakistan will finally connect their telecom networks through a terrestrial link.

Indian security and government agencies have given the go-ahead to three international long-distance operators "" Bharti Airtel Ltd, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Reliance Infocomm "" for this.

The move will help reduce Internet and data leased line costs in Pakistan and also reduce call tariffs between the two countries. Currently, tariffs between India and Pakistan are among the highest in the world as calls are routed through international under-sea cables via countries like the UAE.

In January, 2006, the Pakistan government had announced that all regulatory and security clearances from its side had been completed and that it was awaiting similar clearances from Indian security agencies, the department of telecom, Border Security Force and the home ministry.

"The approvals have been given," government sources told Business Standard today. This means that Reliance Infocomm, VSNL and Bharti, which have already signed memoranda of understanding with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd, can now begin work along the border with Pakistan. The sources added that Reliance Infocomm had also got approval from the BSF to begin "laying the cable link in no man's land along the international border".

"The BSF has given special passes for our men to work along the border and work is expected to be completed by April-end," a Reliance Infocomm executive said. Bharti and VSNL, too, are slated to begin work along the international border over the next couple of weeks.

Both countries had, in principle, agreed to having a optic fibre cable system between the two countries as part of the confidence building measures discussed during the August, 2005 bilateral talks.

In fact, telecom topped Pakistan's agenda during these talks because of an earlier breakdown of the SEAMEWE 3 cable system, which was its only communication link to the outside world.