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Subsea cables and internet infrastructure
India's international internet traffic has come ashore at two places, Mumbai on the west coast and Chennai on the east. A third gateway is now being built near Visakhapatnam, where new cables to Southeast Asia and to the United States will land beside new data centres. The pressure behind it is age and congestion on the east coast cables, and a search for routes that avoid West Asia.
Where the internet crosses an ocean
- Almost all traffic between countries travels on subsea cables rather than by satellite.
- A cable comes ashore at a cable landing station, which joins it to the domestic network, so a country's whole international capacity sits at a few coastal points.
- Data centres cluster near a landing station, because content stored close to the cable reaches users with the least delay.
What has happened
28 Aug 2026
New subsea cables were set to reach a landing station near Visakhapatnam, giving India a third international gateway after Mumbai and Chennai.
- They include the 3,600 km India–Southeast Asia (I-2SEA) system, expected to be ready for service by late 2029, and Google's America-India Connect.
- Most cables on India's east coast are old and nearly full, and instability in West Asia is pushing operators towards alternative routes.