Tata Communications Adds 98 Tbps for AI Network Growth

India-Singapore corridor receives fresh investment

Tata Communications is expanding its subsea cable infrastructure between India and Singapore as demand rises for AI, cloud computing and data-intensive enterprise applications. The company plans to invest US$152 million to add 98 Tbps of capacity on the route. The programme combines capacity on the Mumbai-Singapore MIST cable system with a new Chennai-Singapore subsea connection. Tata Communications said the investments are intended to strengthen high-capacity, low-latency connectivity between Indian data-centre hubs, Southeast Asia and global markets. The Chennai-Singapore system is expected to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2029. The announcement places network infrastructure at the centre of the company’s strategy for serving AI-led workloads.

Two cable projects underpin the capacity addition

Of the total planned investment, US$63 million is allocated to acquire 20 Tbps of capacity on the MIST, or Malaysia, India, Singapore Transit, cable system between Mumbai and Singapore. A further US$89 million is earmarked for a consortium investment in the Chennai-Singapore project, which is expected to add 78 Tbps. Together, the projects account for the stated 98 Tbps capacity expansion. Tata Communications has described the Chennai-Singapore initiative as part of a new subsea system linking India with Singapore. Materials around the wider project also refer to connectivity involving India, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar and Thailand. The additions are designed to increase route diversity as well as available bandwidth.

Key project details

Why bandwidth demand is increasing

AI workloads require large volumes of data to move between data centres, cloud platforms and enterprise locations. Tata Communications has said its network strategy is adapting to this shift, including greater traffic flows between systems rather than only between branch offices and central cloud locations. The company characterises this as an increasing move from north-south traffic to east-west traffic, where AI agents and related systems exchange data with one another. Higher-capacity cable routes can support these patterns across distributed cloud and AI environments. The India-Singapore route is particularly relevant because it connects Indian digital infrastructure with a major Southeast Asian cloud and AI ecosystem. Tata Communications expects the route to carry enterprise, cloud and hyperscaler traffic across the region.

Integration with domestic fibre network

The new subsea capacity will connect with Tata Communications’ terrestrial fibre network in India. The company said this will provide onward connectivity to more than 100 data centres nationally. Project descriptions indicate that landing stations in Machilipatnam and South Chennai are intended to provide geographically diverse paths for the Chennai-linked system. Once carried onshore, the capacity can extend towards data-centre clusters including those in Hyderabad. This integration is important because subsea capacity alone does not complete the connection needed by enterprise and cloud customers. Domestic fibre, data-centre interconnection and managed network services determine how capacity is delivered within India.

IZO platform supports multi-cloud connections

Tata Communications has also introduced IZO Data Centre Dynamic Connectivity, a software-defined platform for enterprise data-centre connections. The platform is designed to support movement of large data volumes across data centres and multiple cloud environments. According to the company, it includes self-provisioning, self-healing and always-on network capabilities. These features are relevant to customers whose traffic requirements fluctuate as AI applications are trained, deployed and operated. The company is additionally investing in 800G technology and network automation. The cable investments therefore sit alongside efforts to improve the software and terrestrial layers of its network.

AWS collaboration adds national network context

In July 2025, Tata Communications and Amazon Web Services announced a strategic collaboration to build an AI-ready national network in India. The planned network connects AWS infrastructure across Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. The stated aim is to provide high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity for AI and machine-learning workloads. The domestic network initiative and the India-Singapore cable expansion address different parts of the same infrastructure requirement. One strengthens links among major Indian cloud locations, while the other adds international capacity toward Southeast Asia. Neither announcement provides a forecast for customer volumes or revenue from the projects.

AI services and small-business platform strategy

The company is also building AI-related products and services above its network infrastructure. Tata Communications and Tata Tele Business Services have announced a collaboration to offer a unified AI platform stack for India’s small and medium businesses. The offering combines TTBS connectivity with Tata Communications’ Commotion conversational AI platform and Vayu AI Cloud. Separately, managing director and chief executive A.S. Lakshminarayanan said the company is investing in AI compute capacity as it progresses on its Nvidia-related plan to build an AI supercomputer. He also said Tata Communications intends to participate in the Centre’s AI Mission by offering AI services to startups and researchers.

Existing network footprint provides the base

Tata Communications has said its network fabric carries 35% of internet traffic and includes 500,000 kilometres of subsea cable and 120,000 kilometres of terrestrial network. These figures illustrate the scale of the existing infrastructure on which the new projects will operate. The company’s latest subsea investments are intended to extend that network’s ability to carry AI-related and cloud traffic. For enterprises, the practical focus is on capacity, route diversity and connections between cloud locations and data centres. For Tata Communications, the projects expand the physical infrastructure supporting its cloud, security, connectivity and AI service portfolio.

Market relevance and next milestone

The US$152 million programme gives Tata Communications additional exposure to infrastructure demand from enterprises, cloud providers and hyperscalers. Its commercial significance will depend on capacity deployment, customer adoption and the execution of the Chennai-Singapore system. The planned Q4 2029 ready-for-service date is the clearest future milestone provided for the new Chennai-linked cable. Until then, the company’s integration of MIST capacity, domestic fibre links and dynamic connectivity services will remain central to the broader India-Singapore corridor strategy. The expansion reflects how AI and cloud demand is increasing the need for both international subsea routes and domestic data-centre interconnection.