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Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio), India’s leading 4G and mobile broadband digital service provider, is constructing an international submarine cable system to connect the country both to the East and the West.

The India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) system will connect India eastbound to Singapore and beyond, while the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) system connects India westbound to the Middle East and Europe. These are expected to meet the demand for data across the region.

According to a statement from Reliance Jio, IAX, and IEX will enhance the ability of consumers and enterprise users to access content and cloud services in and out of India. Further, the fibre optic submarine telecommunications place India at the centre of the international network map.

These high-capacity and high-speed systems will provide more than 200Tbps of capacity, spanning over 16,000 kilometres.

“Jio is at the forefront of India’s explosive growth in digital services and data consumption. To meet the demands of streaming video, remote workforce, 5G, IoT, and beyond, Jio is taking a leadership role in the construction of a first-of-its-kind, India-centric IAX and IEX subsea systems,” said Mathew Oommen, President, Reliance Jio.

The IAX system will connect India to Asia-Pacific markets with express connectivity from Mumbai and Chennai to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. The IEX system extends India’s connectivity to Italy, landing in Savona, and additional landings in the Middle East and North Africa.

IAX is expected to be ready for service in mid of 2023, while IEX will be ready for service in early 2024.

“Implementing these critical initiatives in the shadow of a global pandemic is a challenge, but the ongoing pandemic has only accelerated the digital transformation and the necessity of high-performance global connectivity for the delivery of a richer experience to enterprises and consumers,” Mathew said.

The IAX and IEX sub-sea systems will also be connected to the Reliance Jio Global Fibre Network beyond Asia-Pacific and Europe, connecting to both the east and west coast of the US.