India, Australia to discuss connectivity boost with undersea cables ...

Australia, which has the technology, high technical standards and experience, is looking to work with India, which has substantial experience working with developing nations in the Indian Ocean. Undersea cables are a crucial component of global communications infrastructure.

“Sometimes described as the ‘world’s information super-highways’, undersea cables carry over 95% of international data. In comparison with satellites, subsea cables provide high-capacity, cost-effective and reliable connections that are critical for our daily lives. There are approximately more than 400 active cables worldwide covering 1.3 million km (half a million miles)," writes Colin Wall for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a US-based think tank.

Collaboration on this front will provide an alternative to China, which has worked with a number of nations across the developing world to improve telecommunications and digital connectivity.

Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant with ties to the country’s military, had emerged as a key private player in laying undersea cables. The industry has traditionally been dominated by companies from the US, France and Japan. However, the outbreak of geopolitical tensions led to a concerted campaign of pressure, led by the US, to push Huawei and China out of the industry. This move came from concerns over espionage and the desire to maintain “clean networks" which would allow trusted flow of vital data. The Trump Administration launched the Clean Network Initiative in an effort to build a network of trusted telecommunications suppliers and to protect against “aggressive intrusions by malign actors, such as the Chinese Communist Party."

India and Australia are also working together on this matter under the aegis of the Quad’s Cable Connectivity Partnership. “Under this partnership, Australia will establish a new Indo-Pacific Cable Connectivity and Resilience Program to share best practice and provide technical assistance to Indo-Pacific governments," reads the fact sheet from the Quad Leaders’ Summit held in May this year.

“This partnership will improve access to develop trusted and secure cable systems and establish better internet connectivity and resiliency in the Indo-Pacific," it goes on to say.

India’s MEA did not respond to a query by press time.

Meanwhile, the US will also invest $5 million to provide technical assistance and capacity building for undersea cable systems as part of its CABLES programme.

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Updated: 24 Sep 2023, 11:14 PM IST