Airtel joins undersea cable consortium to enhance network speed

Bharti Airtel has joined the SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium to scale up its high-speed global network capacity to serve India’s fast-growing digital economy. The SEA-ME-WE-6 is the optical fibre submarine communications cable system that would enable telecommunications between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. 

The 19,200 Rkms (route kilometres) SEA-ME-WE-6 will connect Singapore and France, and will be amongst the largest undersea cable systems globally. Airtel is participating as a major investor in the SEA-ME-WE-6 and is anchoring 20% of the overall investment in the cable system, which will go live in 2025, Airtel said in a statement. 

Through SEA-ME-WE-6, Airtel will add a significant amount of 100 TeraBits per second (TBps) capacity to its global network. Airtel has acquired one Fiber Pair on the main SEA-ME-WE-6 system and will co-build four Fiber Pairs between Singapore — Chennai — Mumbai as a part of the cable system. The company will land the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable system in India at new landing stations in Mumbai and Chennai. 

SEA-ME-WE-6 will be fully integrated with Nxtra by Airtel’s large data centres in Mumbai and Chennai to enable global hyperscalers and businesses to access seamless integrated solutions and strengthen India’s position as an emerging data centre hub in the region.  

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Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO, Airtel Business said, “Undersea cable systems along with data centres are vital infrastructure for supporting 5G and the digital economy. Airtel has been ahead of the curve on this front and already operates the largest undersea cable network out of India in addition to the biggest network of data centres. Our investment in SEA-ME-WE-6 is another step in our journey to future-proof our network and build large integrated capacities to enable India’s digital ecosystem.”   

Airtel global network spans over 365,000 Rkms and reaches 50 countries across five continents.