Resilient subsea networks critical to India's AI, digital ambitions: TRAI Chairman Lahoti

Submarine cable systems face significant challenges from natural disasters to pressures from geopolitical tensions and growing data demand, TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said on Tuesday, calling for a multi-pronged approach involving technical innovation, operational resilience, and policy solutions to address issues.

Describing submarine cable systems as the backbone of the digital economy in the AI era, Lahoti said that improving route planning, placing cables in low-risk areas, deploying real-time monitoring systems and building redundant routes can reduce the impact of physical damage and outages.

International cooperation and stronger regulatory frameworks are key to enhancing security and resilience, Lahoti said while addressing a conference on 'Subsea Cables and Digital Cloud Infrastructure' organised by industry body Broadband India Forum.

Lahoti noted that submarine cable systems face "significant challenges" being vulnerable to natural disasters, as well as to human activities.

"...geopolitical tensions and growing data demand also add pressure, making security, reliability and capacity upgrades ongoing concerns for operators," he said.

Similarly, cloud infrastructure faces issues including data security threats, privacy concerns, service outages, operational costs, energy requirement and environmental impact. Also, they need to constantly scale to meet growing demand.

"Together, these challenges highlight the complexity of maintaining reliable, secure and resilient global digital infrastructure. Addressing these challenges requires a mix of technical, operational and policy solutions," Lahoti emphasised.

For cloud infrastructure, adopting robust cyber security measures and continuous threat monitoring is essential.

Future digital infrastructure strategies will be shaped by private sector investment, AI-driven network optimisation, edge cloud convergence and sustainability imperatives.

"The responsibility before policymakers, telecom operators, cloud providers and technology leaders is to ensure that the bridges being built across subsea cables, terrestrial networks, satellite systems and scalable cloud platforms are resilient by design, inclusive in reach and bold in ambition," Lahoti asserted.

Subsea cable and digital cloud infrastructure have emerged as critical infrastructure for a digital world and AI era, and are central to national digital resilience and economic competitiveness.

The TRAI chairman highlighted India's rapid digital transformation, noting that the broadband subscriber base has grown six-fold over the last decade, surpassing the 1-billion-user milestone in November 2025.

This explosion in connectivity is reflected in record-breaking data consumption, with Indian mobile users averaging 27 GB monthly, among the highest globally.

"The rise in data consumption, digitalisation and growth of Artificial Intelligence are accelerating the demand for global data centre infrastructure and submarine cable systems," according to Lahoti.

Citing the recent Economic Survey, Lahoti observed that the nation's data centre capacity is projected to jump to 8 GW by 2030 from 1.4 GW in Q2 of 2025. The submarine cables carry up to 99 per cent of global intercontinental data traffic, acting as the primary backbone of the world's internet.

"India is projected to experience one of the fastest growth in the submarine cable market, with a CAGR of 7.4 per cent driven by digital expansion, rising internet penetration and the government's 'Digital India' initiative, complemented by the 'India AI Mission'," he said, adding that TRAI has long recognised the critical role of submarine cable systems in strengthening India's digital infrastructure.