Jio’s subsea cable system lands in Maldives; to connect to India, Singapore

Reliance Jio Infocomm on Monday said that it will land its next generation multi-terabit India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) undersea cable system in Hulhumale, Maldives. This high-speed and high capacity IAX system will connect Maldives with the major internet hubs in India and Singapore. 

The IAX system that originates in Mumbai connects directly to Singapore, with branches and additional landings in India, Malaysia and Thailand. The India-Europe-Xpress or IEX, on the other hand, connects Mumbai to Milan, landing in Savona, Italy, including additional landings in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.

The IAX system is expected to be ready for service by 2023-end, while IEX will be ready for service in mid-2024. 

Speaking about the launch of Maldives’ first international cable, Minister of Economic Development, Uz Fayyaz Ismail, said, “This is 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.”

Mathew Oommen, President, Reliance Jio said, “Today’s global economy is driven by low-latency broadband, connecting 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.”

What are the IAX, IEX systems?

IAX and IEX are high capacity and high-speed subsea cable systems that can provide more than 200Tb/s of capacity at speeds of 100Gb/s, over 16,000 kilometers. The IEX and IAX systems together are touted to become a milestone in telecommunications infrastructure in this decade. The systems will link India, Europe to Southeast Asia.

Also read: Reliance Jio to construct largest international submarine cable system connecting India