AGARTALA, Jan 29 (TWN): India’s third international internet gateway, after Mumbai and Chennai, would be operational in Agartala soon.Top government leaders of India and Bangladesh are expected to attend the ‘grand inauguration’ in Tripura of the international gateway to import internet bandwidth from Bangladesh.

State-run BSNL completed all work this week to establish optic fibre cable (OFC) link with the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL).

Sources in BSNL said preparations are in place for the opening ceremony, likely to take place in the first week of February.

U.C. Bhowmik, Deputy General Manager DGM BSNL in Tripura, told TIWN  : “We have conducted acceptance testing which was positive and snag-free.”

Mr. Bhowmik said the agencies had met the deadline to complete all work before January.

BSNL and BSCCL had signed an agreement on transmission of high speed Internet (up to 40 GB bandwidth) from Cox Bazar in southeast Bangladesh to benefit connectivity in Tripura and other north-eastern States. Both completed the OFC joint at Akhaura border in Agartala earlier this month.

The BSNL had earmarked Rs. 20 crore for the project installation and is to pay Rs. 7.2 crore annually to BSCCL for hiring bandwidth. The memorandum of understanding was signed during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dhaka.