India-Malaysia-Singapore Submarine Cable Project (Current Events of National And International importance)
India-Malaysia-Singapore Submarine Cable Project (Current Events of National And International importance)
Why In News:
A consortium has unveiled the I-2SEA (India-Southeast Asia) submarine cable system, connecting Singapore, Malaysia and India.
Spanning roughly 3,600 km, the cable will have two landing points in India, at Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and South Chennai, with NEC Corporation as system supplier.
Source: The Hindu, Page 17, 3 July 2026, 'Submarine cable project linking India, Malaysia, Singapore unveiled'
What Are Submarine Cables
Submarine communication cables are fibre-optic lines laid on the ocean floor that carry over 95%, of international internet and data traffic, including cloud services and financial transactions.
They are typically laid and maintained by specialised cable-laying ships and owned through consortia of telecom and technology companies.
About Fiber optics:
Fiber optics refers to the technology and method of transmitting data as light pulses along a glass or plastic strand or fiber.
They are capable of transmitting data over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than electrical cables.
Types of Optical fibres:
Single-mode fiber: In this only one type of ray of light can propagate through the fiber. There is no dispersion i.e. no degradation of the signal during traveling through the fiber.
Multi-mode fiber: Multimode fiber allows many modes for the light rays traveling through it. There is signal degradation due to multimode dispersion making it not suitable for long-distance communication.
India's Submarine Cable Landscape
India's international cable landings have historically clustered around Mumbai and Chennai; I-2SEA's choice of Machilipatnam marks a shift toward diversifying landing points along the east coast, due to its short subsea access to Hyderabad.
Existing systems include the Chennai-Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) cable, commissioned in 2020, and the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) cable, commissioned in 2023, both aimed at improving domestic island connectivity.
Key Facts for Prelims
BharatNet is India's flagship programme for last-mile rural broadband connectivity via optical fibre, distinct from international submarine cable projects.
The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) was launched in 2011 and later renamed the BharatNet Project in 2015 under the Ministry of Communications.
It aimed at providing high-speed broadband connectivity to every Gram Panchayat across the country.
It is one of the largest rural telecom projects in the world, designed to offer affordable broadband access and enable the delivery of e-health, e-education, and e-governance services in rural India.
The project initially aimed to connect approximately 2.5 lakh GPs across the country.
National Broadband Mission (2019) aims to provide broadband access to all villages, complementing international bandwidth capacity added by cables like I-2SEA.