Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani wants to build the world’s largest underwater cable network

Asia’s wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani wants to build the world’s largest underwater cable network, placing INDIA at the center of a web of international undersea cables that will meet the country’s growing demand for data. India is the world’s second-largest consumer of data with over 560 million internet users. India consumes about 11 GB of data every month on average.

The construction of the cable network will be done in collaboration with several key global partners and a submarine cable supplier, SubCom. The high-capacity and high-speed cables will provide more than 200Tbps (terabits per second) of capacity spanning over 16,000 kilometers.

The two cables that Reliance Jio is laying are called — the India Asia Xpress (IAX) and the India Europe Xpress (IEX).

India Europe Xpress will connect India with Italy, the Middle East, and North Africa. The India Asia Xpress (IAX) will connect the country to Asia Pacific markets with express connectivity from Mumbai and Chennai to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The India Asia Xpress (IAX) is expected to be ready for service mid-2023, while the India Europe Xpress (IEX) is expected to go live by early 2024.

With a net worth of roughly $83.9 billion, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in Asia, followed by Gautam Adani (No. 2, $77.7 billion), Zhong Shanshan(No. 3, $70.8 billion); and Ma Huateng (No. 4, $61 billion).