Bharti Airtel joins SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium

Bharti Airtel has joined the SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium to ramp up its high speed global network capacity to cater to India’s digital economy.

The 19,200km SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable is planned to connect Singapore and France.

Airtel is taking part as a major investor in the undersea cable project and has a 20% stake in it.

The SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable is scheduled to become operational in 2025.

The other consortium members of SEA-ME-WE-6 are Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Djibouti Telecom, Dhiraagu (Maldives), Orange (France), Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Sri Lanka Telecom, Singtel (Singapore), Telekom Malaysia, Telecom Egypt, and Telin (Indonesia).

By taking part in the SEA-ME-WE-6 project, Airtel will add 100 TBps capacity to its global network. The Indian communications service provider 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 part of the undersea cable system.

Airtel said that it will land the SEA-ME-WE6 cable system in India at new landing stations located in Mumbai and Chennai.

SEA-ME-WE-6 will be integrated fully with the large data centers of Nxtra by Airtel in Mumbai and Chennai to allow global hyperscalers and businesses to access seamless integrated solutions and bolster the position of India as an emerging data center hub in the region.

Ajay Chitkara — Director and CEO of Airtel Business said: “Undersea cable systems along with data centers 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 centers. 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.”