A consortium comprising Microsoft, Singtel, Tata Communications, and Lightstorm has unveiled plans to build I-2SEA, a new submarine cable system connecting India, Malaysia, and Singapore to strengthen digital infrastructure and support the region’s rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem.
The 3,600-kilometre submarine cable will connect Machilipatnam on India’s east coast with Singapore and Malaysia’s expanding data centre hub in Kuala Lumpur. The system will feature dual landing stations in India, with its second landing point in South Chennai, providing resilient connectivity for AI and cloud services.
To meet rising demand from hyperscalers, GPU infrastructure providers, and AI training and inference workloads enterprises, I-2SEA will directly connect India’s major AI and data centre clusters in Hyderabad and Chennai to Southeast Asia’s leading cloud and digital infrastructure hubs.
The consortium will operate under a joint build agreement, with NEC Corporation appointed as the system supplier and ASEAN Cableship (ACPL) handling marine installation. The project is currently open for capacity commitments and is expected to be ready by the fourth quarter of 2029.
According to Lightstorm, the cable system is expected to transmit to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Hyderabad corridor, viewed as critical for AI workloads and high-performance computing.
Lightstorm will operate the cable’s Indian landing stations using its SmartNet AI Fabric and Polarin platforms, featuring carrier-neutral infrastructure and interoperable cable architecture to support large-scale AI connectivity across the region.
