Reliance Jio’s undersea cable system to land in Maldives

The Next-Generation Multi-terabit India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) undersea cable system will be landed in Hulhumale, Maldives, according to Reliance Jio. Hulhumale’ will be immediately connected to the world’s major internet centres in India and Singapore via the high-capacity and high-speed IAX infrastructure.

The IAX system begins in the west with Mumbai and connects directly to Singapore, with branches in India, Thailand, and Malaysia. By the end of 2023, the IAX system is projected to be operational.

Low-latency broadband, according to Reliance Jio President Mathew Oommen, is driving today’s global economy by linking people, businesses, content, and services.

“IAX will not only connect Maldives to the world’s content hubs, but it will also support the explosive growth in data demand expected from the new initiatives being launched by the government of Maldives,” Oommen added.

Uz Fayyaz Ismail, minister of economic development in the Maldives, called this “the first stride towards enhancing our connectivity infrastructure and opening vast opportunities for our people through providing secure, affordable and high-quality services”.

“We also aim to diversify our economy and establish ourselves as a key communications hub in South Asia. Aside from economic development, this will accelerate social development through high-speed internet access throughout the Maldives allowing us to attain the equitable development we seek,” Ismail added.

The IAX system starts in Mumbai and links directly to Singapore, with additional landings in India, Malaysia, and Thailand as branches. The India Europe-Xpress (IEX) system connects Mumbai and Milan, with a stopover at Savona, Italy, as well as stops throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. IAX is expected to be operational by the end of 2023, while IEX will be operational by the middle of 2024.

Over 16,000 kilometers, these high-capacities, high-speed systems will provide more than 200Tb/s of capacity at rates of 100 Gb/second. “Employing open system technology and the latest wavelength switched RoADM/branching units ensures rapid upgrade deployment and the ultimate flexibility to add/drop waves across multiple locations,” the company said in an official statement.

In conjunction with the Maldives government-owned Ocean Connect Maldives, Jio, India’s largest 4G and mobile broadband digital service provider will land the high-speed IAX underwater cable system project in Hulhumale (OCM).