In an effort to set up their own ILD infrastructure, BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) are jointly investing $400 million for rolling out submarine cable links from India to Southeast Asia and West Asia.

In an effort to set up their own ILD infrastructure, BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) are jointly investing $400 million for rolling out submarine cable links from India to Southeast Asia and West Asia. The JV company, Millennium Telecom Limited (MTL), which will build the submarine cable links, plans to complete the project in two phases. In the first phase, MTL will build the cable link from India to Singapore, with branches to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Thailand and Indonesia; and from India to the United Arab Emirates with branches to Pakistan, Oman, Iran, Qatar and Kuwait. In the second phase, the company plans to expand the first route to the US and the second route to Europe.