Airtel Brings 2Africa Pearls Subsea Cable With Over 100 Tbps Capacity To India

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has introduced the 2Africa Pearls submarine cable system to India, enhancing the nation's communication network connectivity with Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

The 2Africa Pearls cable system will bring over 100 terabits per second of international capacity, as stated by the company on Thursday.

Sharat Sinha, director and chief executive officer of Airtel Business, expressed enthusiasm for the development, emphasising its role in bolstering network resilience. He highlighted Airtel's ongoing efforts to diversify its global network, including the recent landing of the SEA-WE-ME-6 cable in Chennai and Mumbai.

Sinha also reaffirmed Airtel's commitment to investing in global cable systems to ensure high network uptime, reliability, and superior service quality for customers.

Submarine cables play a vital role as a foundational infrastructure, connecting nations for broadband services.

There are around 650 submarine cable systems across the world, of which 570 are estimated to be operational. Airtel is the landing partner for the 2Africa Pearls cable in India.

2Africa Pearls is a part of the 2Africa cable system, which will be the world's longest subsea cable system when completed, spanning over 45,000 kilometers connecting Asia to Africa and Europe through the Middle East, the statement said.

The 2Africa cable system is led by a consortium of Bayobab, Center3, China Mobile International, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone Group, and WIOCC, while Alcatel Submarine Networks is responsible for manufacturing and installation of the cable.

(With PTI inputs)