RCom arm to connect Mumbai and Singapore with sub-sea cable

Global CloudXchange, the submarine cable unit of Reliance Communications (RCom), onThursday, said it will link Mumbai and Singapore by laying about 5060-kilometresub-sea cable at an estimated investment of $200 million (about Rs 1,200 crore).

The new cable ispart of RCom's strategy to provide a direct route to emerging markets corridor. RCom is in talks with two technology companies and an infrastructure firm forpartnerships to partner in the project.

Global CloudXchange Chief Executive Officer, William Barney said while large part of theinvestment would come from the RCom arm, other three companies will also investas partners for the project.

However, the company did not disclose the names ofits partners for the project.The submarinecable will have landing stations at Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai,before proceeding to Singapore,the company said in a statement.

The cable is expected to be ready to for use within24 months.This cable willenable us to become the largest submarine cable operator connecting Europe withAsia, according to the company statement.

"TeleGeographyforecasts India'sinternational bandwidth demand requirements will increase over 10-fold between 2013and 2020," said Alan Mauldin, research director, TeleGeography. Global CloudXchange will announce the awarding of the supply contract by the third quarterof 2014.