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'Tripura can be Bangladesh's IT backyard' : Saumen Sarker's interview by bdnews24.com
Kolkata Correspondent, bdnews24.com
'Tripura can be Bangladesh's IT backyard' : Saumen Sarker's interview by bdnews24.com
PHOTO : Dr Dipu Moni and Saumen Sarker at Agartala in July, 2014. Interview and Picture courtsey : bdnews24.com

Interview was published on July 5, 2015 in Bangladesh's top news media bdnews24.com on India's upcoming (high speed under sea fiber) 3rd Internet Gateway at Agartala.

http://bdnews24.com/neighbours/2015/07/05/tripura-can-be-bangladesh-s-it-backyard

Saumen Sarker, a New York based NRI and  Vice President (Global Network Infrastructure Solutions ) of Bank of America, told bdnews24.com in an interview that Agartala, after Mumbai and Chennai, is all set to emerge as the third internet gateway of India after commissioning of the submarine cable connectivity through Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

Sarkar is based in the US but is deeply enthusiastic about Tripura's growth and nostalgic about Bangladesh, where his family roots are.

He runs the website www.tripurainfoway.com and organises the Tripura Conclave that takes one key issue for Tripura every year in a day-long discussion involving experts, decision-makers and interested citizens.

Former Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni was the keynote speaker at the 1st Tripura Conclave on July 9 last year.

The present FBCCI chief Abdul Matlub Ahmed also presented his views at the Conclave that also brought together experts on China and Myanmar.

It discussed how a tiny state like Tripura can leverage the neighborhood for its growth.

The Second Tripura Conclave is being held in Agartala on Aug 6 and it will take up the new India-Bangladesh bandwidth sharing agreement and how it could turn Tripura into a destination for IT industry.

"I welcome captains of Bangladesh IT Industry to join the Conclave. We will host them because they need to know of the opportunities that beckon. They can use the state as the backyard for their IT industry," Saumen Sarker told bdnews24.com.

He asked all those in Bangladesh interested to join the Conclave to mail him at  tripurainfoway@gmail.com.

"Coming to Agartala for Bangladeshis is like visiting any district of their own country. And we will host them here if they come," Sarker said.

He said hundreds of IT qualified engineers from Tripura and other parts of Northeast are flocking to India's big IT towns like Bangalore and Hyderabad every year.

"If Bangladesh IT companies set up shop here, these engineers will all remain behind and work at home," said Sarkar. "Also Indian companies which feel Northeast is far for them may get into joint ventures with Bangladesh companies to set up shop in Agartala."

"Agartala can be where Indian and Bangladesh IT industry can grow together."

India’s international Internet Bandwidth gateways at present are located in Mumbai and Chennai." Now Agartala will be the third gateway after the agreement with Bangladesh," Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) chief engineer of Northeast region DP Singh said this week.

After this, in future the Indian mainland would depend on the Northeast for internet connectivity, Singh said.

“With the opening up of the 10G link through Akhaurha (in Bangladesh) at a cost of Rs 8 Crore annually the internet network in Tripura will become as good as Delhi, Bangalore or Chennai. Days are coming when the (tele) traffic of the mainland will be going through Northeast,” he said.

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will commission the project in Agartala sometime next week.

It has been estimated that in less than six months the work of laying the optical fibre, connecting Agartala with Bangladesh, will be completed.

The work is simultaneously in progress on the other sides of the border by the respective telecom service providers.

Singh said, currently the northeast was getting internet connectivity through two major gateways in Mumbai and Chennai.

But due to distance there were often problems with the connectivity.

Internet connectivity through Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh would make high-speed, large bandwidth and unimpeded internet service available in Northeast, Singh said.

Singh said that for better and trouble-free internet connectivity BSNL was using optical fibre network of high towers of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and this was working far better than other cable networks.

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