Airtel expands global network with 2Africa Pearls cable landing in India

Bharti Airtel has successfully landed the 2Africa Pearls submarine cable in India, significantly boosting the country’s international telecommunications infrastructure. The cable, a partnership with center3 and Meta, brings over 100 terabits per second of international capacity, connecting India to Africa and Europe via the Middle East.

The shares of Bharti Airtel Limited were trading at ₹1,729.30, up ₹9.25 or 0.53 per cent on the NSE today at 2.57 pm.

Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO of Airtel Business, highlighted the strategic importance of the investment, emphasizing the company’s commitment to network resilience and global expansion. This landing follows Airtel’s recent deployment of the SEA-WE-ME-6 cable in Chennai and Mumbai, demonstrating the telecom giant’s aggressive global network diversification strategy.

The 2Africa Pearls project, which spans 45,000 kilometres, is part of the world’s longest planned subsea cable system. It involves a consortium of major telecommunications and technology companies, including Bayobab, China Mobile International, Orange, and Vodafone Group. Alcatel Submarine Networks is handling the cable’s manufacturing and installation.

Airtel’s global network now extends across 400,000 route kilometres in 50 countries, with investments in 34 submarine cables. The company continues to strengthen its international connectivity, supporting India’s digital growth ambitions by ensuring high-uptime and reliable network infrastructure for both consumer and enterprise customers.