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New Delhi: India and Pakistan are keen on setting up an optic fibre link for telecommunications. Pakistan senator Ahmad Ali, who was part of the delegation headed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, told FE: “Pakistan can do anything to strengthen the bond between the two nations.” He added that things are moving in the right direction as far as fibre connectivity is concerned.
“There are enough instruments in an optical fibre set-up (which are otherwise absent in a satellite connectivity) that ensure a secured environment for voice and data traffic,” an official with the department of telecommunications (DoT) said. DoT is planning to write a letter to the Pakistan government seeking joint intiative on optic fibre connectivity, he added.
An optical fibre link between the two countries would result in a more reliable and secured network, according to DoT.
In the last South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) conference, India had recommended optic fibre connectivity. “The counterpart minister had given a positive response on this,” said the DoT official.
The communications and information technology minister Dayanidhi Maran had earlier suggested a 10-kilometer fibre-optic link between the two nations to boost communication access and reduce user charges.
The next SAARC meeting of IT and communications ministers will be held in India in 2005.
The Pakistan government is targeting to achieve a teledensity of 7% (about 10 million lines) by 2010, according to reports. India’s teledensity is 8%.
According to sources, the outstanding balance between the telecom public sector units (PSUs) in the two countries is holding up the decision to set up fibre connectivity.
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