India needs more underwater cables to strengthen its digital backbone: TRAI Chief

More underwater cables are needed to carry the majority of global telecom and Internet traffic to and from India, according to analysts.

Referring to India's insufficient submarine (or subsea) cable capacity to meet its digital ambitions, Anil Kumar Lahoti, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), stated that the country "has to do much more" to develop a robust subsea cable system. 

Lahoti reiterated that, as against smaller countries such as Singapore, which has 26 subsea cables landed at three landing points, India has only 1% of the world's subsea cable landing facilities. He emphasized the need for formulating a "strategic, security conscious, and innovation driven approach" to improve and expand India's cable networks. 

While recent developments are encouraging, experts believe India still lags in submarine cable infrastructure. Currently, the country has just 1% of the world’s cable landing stations, whereas experts suggest this must increase tenfold to establish India as a global digital hub, Lahoti said.

These remarks were made by the telecom regulatory chief at India's first-ever International Subsea Cable Systems Conference, held in New Delhi on 25th March,2025 and organized by the Broadband India Forum (BIF).

A Cable Landing Station (CLS) serves as the entry and exit point for international data traffic, connecting submarine fiber-optic cables to terrestrial networks. To position India as a global leader in the submarine cable network, Lahoti emphasized that expansion is inevitable.

The Indian submarine communication cable market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.4%. Holding a large market share in South Asia and the Pacific, India has a strong opportunity to become a regional hub for digital technology.

Subsea cable infrastructure in India, however, has a number of difficulties, such as long building times, increased failure rates, and disruption susceptibilities. Additionally, because of security concerns and regulatory compliance, numerous authorities must approve the installation and maintenance of submarine cables in India. 

The Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) further emphasised that the TRAI has proposed a comprehensive regulatory framework to streamline submarine cable licensing and operations across the country. One of the key recommendations is to classify Cable Landing Stations (CLS) into two categories: CLS Point of Presence (CLS PoP), which will serve as backup stations required to comply with operational and security regulations, and Main CLS, which will be responsible for overseeing submarine cables and managing all regulatory approvals.

The conference was held just weeks after three underwater cables that linked India to international telecom networks were alleged to have been cut off, presumably as a result of deliberate attacks. This affected 25% of data traffic that was moving between Asia and Europe. Following the outage, it was stated that Indian telecom providers Tata Communications, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel were compelled to redirect traffic to alternative cable lines.