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Leading telecom operators, Airtel and China Telecom are set to establish a high capacity direct link between the world’s two fastest growing economies, India and China. The direct underground terrestrial link will offer seamless connectivity to customers transiting India or China to reach key global destinations.
It also expands the potential for cheaper and improved roaming for Airtel subscribers in Africa and the Middle East where Airtel has substantial subscribers-base and has sustained its One-World network.
The new link was announced by Bharti Airtel and China Telecom Corporation. The underground network, offering data speeds of up to 40Gbps, will be built on resilient ring infrastructure, and represents Bharti Airtel’s third International Gateway for customers in India.
In an official release by its Nigeria operations, Bharti Airtel and China Telecom have constructed the network in their respective territories from Siliguri to Nathula border in India and Nathula border to Yadong in China. The network will address the surging international traffic and diversity requirements of both the nations. In India, the high speed network spans from Siliguri gateway to Nathula via Pedong on one path, and the second path will reach Siliguri from Nathula via Gangtok, forming a ring.
Bharti Airtel has also outlined an MoU with China Telecom to develop the Network-to-Network Interconnect (NNI) which allows for seamless access to the combined regional and global network resources of both the operators.
Ajay Chitkara, CEO of Global Data Business at Bharti Airtel, commented: “The current economic boom in India and China has triggered a huge demand from global as well as domestic customers for connectivity in these nations. The launch of this India-China link further strengthens our commitment of creating state-of-the-art network for our customers through innovation, and connects the world’s two fastest growing economies on a low latency path.”
