Microsoft partners with Singapore-based Lightstorm to construct an undersea fiber optic cable connecting India and Southeast Asia.

As technology companies race to expand artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in India, one of the fastest growing data markets in the world, a consortium led by Microsoft and telecom startup Lightstorm plans to lay a new submarine cable connecting India, Malaysia, and Singapore. Other members of the consortium include Tata Communications, Singapore Telecommunications, ASEAN Cable Ship Company in Singapore, and NEC in Japan. These companies announced on Thursday that they will lay the I-2SEA submarine cable to support artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and hyperscale workloads. Details, including the investment size, were not disclosed. The network spans 3,600 kilometers and will have a landing station in Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh in southern India, where Meta and Alphabet have previously announced plans to build data centers.