Tata Communications to spend $450M on an 'AI Super Highway'
What's the story
Tata Communications has announced plans to invest up to $450 million in building an "AI Super Highway" in India. The project, which will connect key data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) hubs across the country, is expected to take three to five years for completion. The company plans to build a 10,000-km AI-ready fiber network as part of this ambitious undertaking.
Market strategy
Targeting 30-40% market share
Tata Communications is targeting a 30-40% market share in data center-to-data center connectivity with its AI Super Highway.
The investment will mainly be used to build long-haul and metro terrestrial fiber networks linking cities with AI data centers and application hubs.
The company also plans to leverage its global network infrastructure for subsea connectivity as part of this initiative.
Market potential
Data center-to-data center market in India could exceed $1B
Tata Communications estimates that the data center-to-data center connectivity market in India could exceed $1 billion in the medium term.
The prediction is based on rising investments in AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure.
The company plans to invest over three to five years, prioritizing corridors based on traffic projections, capacity requirements, and the pace of data center development.
Project phases
Phased approach for AI super highway rollout
The first phase of the AI Super Highway will connect Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
The second phase will extend connectivity between Chennai, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam.
The third phase will take the network toward Bhubaneswar and Gujarat including GIFT City and Jamnagar.
The entire network is designed to deliver 7.2 petabytes of capacity for bandwidth-intensive AI workloads/data center interconnect requirements.
Infrastructure
Tata Communications's existing network infrastructure
The AI Super Highway will cater to hyperscalers, neocloud providers, tech firms, software-as-a-service companies, and AI labs.
Tata Communications has already built a dedicated network for Amazon Web Services.
The company operates over 500,000km of subsea optical fiber and more than 200,000km of terrestrial fiber, which will support its plan to expand AI infrastructure with global digital networks.