Submarine cable networks have long formed the backbone of India’s international internet connectivity, carrying the vast majority of data traffic between the country and the rest of the world. As cloud computing, data centres and artificial intelligence continue to expand, these undersea networks are taking on a bigger role, supporting the growing demand for high-speed, low-latency connectivity needed to power AI infrastructure and digital services across borders.
To manage the growing demand for artificial intelligence workloads across the region, Lightstorm, an Asia Pacific-based digital network infrastructure and AI connectivity provider, has partnered with Microsoft, Singtel and Tata Communications to build the India–Southeast Asia (I-2SEA) Submarine Cable System, a new undersea cable connecting India, Malaysia and Singapore. The system is designed to support hyperscalers, GPU infrastructure providers and enterprises running AI training and inference workloads across the region.
The I-2SEA cable will connect India’s east coast with major AI and hyperscale data centre clusters in Hyderabad and Chennai before extending to Singapore, a key cloud and AI hub in Southeast Asia, and Malaysia’s growing data centre corridor in Kuala Lumpur. The system will have two landing stations in India, one at Machilipatnam, providing the shortest subsea route to Hyderabad, and another at a new landing location in South Chennai.
According to Lightstorm, customers using the I-2SEA cable will also be able to access its terrestrial fibre network spanning more than 30,000 kilometres, extending connectivity to Hyderabad, Mumbai and more than 80 data centres across the country.
The approximately 3,600-kilometre cable is targeted to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2029. Once integrated with Lightstorm’s terrestrial backhaul network in India, it is expected to provide one of the fastest data transmission routes between Singapore, Malaysia and Hyderabad.
The system will combine Lightstorm’s SmartNet AI Fabric with its subsea infrastructure to deliver connectivity across data centres, cloud hubs and AI workloads. Lightstorm will operate the Indian landing stations and manage the network through its Polarin platform. The project is being executed under a Joint Build Agreement between Lightstorm, Microsoft, Singtel and Tata Communications, with NEC Corporation as system supplier and ASEAN Cableship Pte Ltd (ACPL) handling marine installation. Capacity commitments are now open.
Meanwhile, Amajit Gupta, Group CEO and Managing Director of Lightstorm, said, “I-2SEA extends our AI-ready network into the subsea domain, connecting AI regions across India, Malaysia and Singapore through a single end-to-end system built to support the performance and scale required for AI infrastructure.”
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