Tata Communications, part of the Tata Group, plans to invest $450 million to build a 10,000-kilometer fiber network across India that links data center hubs. Mint reported that the company will spend the money over the next three to five years and fund it from operating cash flow.
The company calls the network an “AI superhighway,” built to carry the large volumes of data that artificial intelligence systems move between computing sites. The first phase will connect Mumbai, in western India, with Pune, in western India, Hyderabad, in southern India, and Chennai, in southern India. Later phases will reach Visakhapatnam, in southeastern India, Bhubaneswar, in eastern India, and Jamnagar and GIFT City in the western state of Gujarat.
Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer, “a growing proportion of our expansion is being driven by anchor customer commitments and contracted demand, providing a strong foundation for sustainable growth, efficient capital deployment and long-term value creation.”
Rupesh Chokshi, chief product and technology officer, told Mint that the company expects a return in line with the industry benchmark of 15% to 20% as capacity comes online and begins to earn revenue. He also said Tata Communications expects a first-mover advantage in connecting one data center to another across the country, because other companies are focused on building data center capacity or on connecting smaller locations.
