Is India's internet boom running into an undersea problem?
Summary
India relies heavily on submarine internet cables that connect the country to other continents, but most of these cables come ashore in a small area near Mumbai. This concentration creates a risk because damage to several cables at once could slow down or disrupt internet and data services across India.Key Facts
- India has 18 international submarine cables that carry nearly all its internet data to Europe, Africa, and West Asia.
- At least 13 of these cables land within a six-kilometre stretch of Mumbai's Versova coast.
- These cables carry about 99% of global communication traffic, using fiber-optic strands on the ocean floor.
- India accounts for about 20% of the world's data use but only has around 3% of the global submarine cable connections.
- India has 21 cable landing stations out of about 1,900 worldwide.
- Many of India's submarine cables are more than 20 years old, near the typical 25-year lifespan.
- Damage to these cables can cause slower internet speeds, which could affect banks, stock markets, cloud services, and AI technologies.
- Cable faults happen worldwide frequently, mostly due to accidents rather than attacks.
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