I-2SEA Undersea Cable: India’s First AI-Focused Link
Why in the news
A four-party consortium signed construction contracts on 2 July 2026 for the India-Southeast Asia (I-2SEA) cable. It is pitched as the first undersea system in India designed from the start for artificial intelligence traffic.
Key facts
- Length and route: about 3,600 km, joining Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to India’s east coast.
- Landings in India: two, namely Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh and South Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
- Timeline: Ready-for-Service in Q4 2029; agreement structure is a Joint Build Agreement (JBA).
- Supplier: NEC Corporation (Japan); installer: ASEAN Cableship Pte Ltd (ACPL).
- Network link-up: will plug into Lightstorm’s SmartNet AI Fabric and its 30,000+ km terrestrial network reaching Hyderabad, Mumbai and 80+ Indian data centres.
Consortium and partners
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| Lightstorm | Majority owner; Singapore-based AI connectivity platform for Asia Pacific |
| Microsoft | Global hyperscaler running Azure |
| Singtel | Singapore Telecommunications; described as ASEAN’s largest telecom operator |
| Tata Communications | India-based global digital infrastructure firm |
| NEC Corporation | System supplier |
| ASEAN Cableship Pte Ltd | Marine installation partner |
Why these landing points
- Machilipatnam (Krishna district) offers the shortest subsea path and fastest transit to Hyderabad’s AI data-centre clusters.
- South Chennai is a fresh, diverse landing meant to avoid congested sea lanes near Chennai’s existing landing point.
- Singapore is the regional cloud interconnect and AI hub; Kuala Lumpur anchors Malaysia’s hyperscale data-centre corridor.
Aims
- Meet fast-growing bandwidth demand from hyperscalers, GPU-infrastructure firms and businesses handling heavy AI traffic across the India-Southeast Asia route.
- Offer the quickest transmission on the Singapore/Malaysia to Hyderabad corridor.
- Position India’s east coast as a gateway for AI and hyperscale cloud infrastructure.
Submarine cables: basics
- Undersea fibre-optic lines on the ocean floor carry telecom signals between continents; roughly 550+ active cables, about 1.4 million km in total.
- They handle about 99% of intercontinental data; satellites carry only around 1%.
- Layers include glass fibres, plastic, steel wires, copper, an aluminium water barrier and a polyethylene sheath; life is about 25 years.
India’s cable landscape
- About 17 international cables land in India, and 95% of international bandwidth rides on them.
- Landing hubs: Mumbai (about 75% of international bandwidth), Chennai (14+ cables), Kochi, Trivandrum, Tuticorin, Digha.
- Policy push: expand on the east coast (Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam) to lessen reliance on Mumbai.
- Other projects listed: Jio’s IAX and IEX (2024), Airtel’s SEA-ME-WE 6 (2025), Meta’s 2Africa (2024), Tata’s TGN network, Airtel’s Bay of Bengal Gateway.
Exam angle
- Cable name expansion: India-Southeast Asia (I-2SEA); landings at Machilipatnam and South Chennai.
- Majority owner: Lightstorm; supplier: NEC Corporation (Japan).
- Mumbai’s dominance in bandwidth and the east-coast diversification push.