Male, Maldives (CU)_ According to the latest statement, India’s leading mobile operator Reliance Jio Infocomm will dock the multi-terabit India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) underwater cable system in Hulhumale, Maldives. Accordingly, Hulhumale can be immediately connected to the world’s main internet centers in India and Singapore via the high-capacity and high-speed IAX infrastructure. According to the statement, “These high capacity and high-speed systems will provide more than 200Tb/s of capacity at speeds of 100Gb/s, over 16,000 kilometers”.
According to the statement, Jio’s IAX initiative will launch in the Maldives in partnership with Ocean Connect Maldives. The IAX system begins in western Mumbai and links straight to Singapore, with branches in India, Malaysia, and Thailand. The India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) links Mumbai to Milan through Savona, Italy, with additional stops in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. IAX is planned to be operational by the end of 2023, while IEX is projected to be operational by mid-2024.
Uz Fayyaz Ismail, Minister of Economic Development, commented on the launch of the Maldives’ first international cable. He said, “This is the first stride towards enhancing our connectivity infrastructure and opening vast opportunities for our people through providing secure, affordable and high-quality services”. He added, “We also aim to diversify our economy and establish ourselves as a key communications hub in South Asia”. Ismail noted that along with economic development, this would also expedite social development with high-speed internet access across the Maldives, enabling the country to achieve equitable development.
Mathew Oommen, president of Reliance Jio, remarked that the modern global economy is fueled by low-latency internet that connects people, businesses, content, and services. Oommen spoke about the benefits of the project to the Maldives. He added, “IAX will not only connect Maldives to the world’s content hubs, but it will also support the explosive growth in data demand expected from the new initiatives being launched by the government of Maldives”.
