The new submarine cable boosts Airtel’s global network capacity with 220 TBPs, enhancing India’s connectivity to Singapore, France, and beyond
Bharti Airtel has successfully landed the SEA-ME-WE-6 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe 6) submarine cable in Chennai, further strengthening the company’s global network. This cable, which was also landed in Mumbai on December 30, 2024, connects India to Singapore and France (Marseille), passing through Egypt, with substantial enhancements to India’s connectivity capabilities.
The 21,700 Rkm (route kilometers) submarine cable system, engineered and installed by SubCom, will deliver an impressive 220 terabits per second (TBPs) of global capacity to India. As part of the SEA-ME-WE-6 consortium, Airtel has co-built a private network of four fiber pairs between Singapore, Chennai, and Mumbai, providing robust connectivity for global businesses and hyperscalers in India.
“This investment and milestone will further improve our secure, diverse, and scalable global network, meeting the growing demand for global connectivity and data.”
— Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO – Airtel Business
Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO of Airtel Business, remarked, “This new investment and milestone would further improve our secure, diverse, and scalable global network. We are delighted to strengthen our global connectivity by landing one of the largest cable systems into our facilities, which complements our existing network strength of 400,000 Rkms across 50 countries.”
The cable landings in Chennai and Mumbai are integrated with Nxtra by Airtel, the company’s data center arm. This integration allows global businesses and hyperscalers in India to seamlessly access international connectivity and data center services.
Airtel’s extensive network spans five continents, with investments in 34 cables globally. Recent projects include the 2Africa, Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2), and Equiano cables. Other significant subsea network investments include the i2i Cable Network, Europe India Gateway (EIG), IMEWE, SEA-ME-WE-4, and several others, reinforcing Airtel’s commitment to expanding India’s connectivity and catering to the growing demands of the digital age.
