Houthi Rebel Attacks Escalate, Red Sea Cable Operators Face Disruptions

Rapid Summary

• Tensions in the Red Sea pose a threat to India’s digital backbone, as key subsea cables are routed through this corridor.
• Yemen’s Houthi rebels have targeted subsea cables and commercial ships, causing increased operational costs due to ransom threats and insurance spikes.
• Submarine cable leasing on corridors like Europe-Asia costs $30,000-$50,000 per month; repair delays further complicate the issue due to ship shortages and conflict zones.
• Major Indian stakeholders include Reliance Jio (India-Europe Express), Bharti Airtel (Sea-Me-We 6, 2 Africa Pearls), Tata Communications, and Google’s Blue-Raman project.
• Cable operators are building redundancies using extra fibre pairs or terrestrial routes through sovereign land instead of maritime pathways. Example: Gulf-European Transit Route bypassing the Red Sea.
• In early 2023 near Bab el-Mandeb strait, submarine cable cuts caused internet outages in South Asia and neighboring regions due to regional conflicts or anchor damage.
• TRAI forecasts India’s submarine communication market growing at 7.2% annually toward $78.6 million by 2030 amidst surging data demand.

!Image

Read More

Indian Opinion Analysis

India’s reliance on the Red Sea subsea cables underscores an urgent need for diversifying connectivity routes to ensure uninterrupted digital operations amidst escalating geopolitical risks in the region. The efforts by Indian companies like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel toward investing heavily in redundancy solutions could prove critical for protecting national digital infrastructure against disruptions.

The pursuit of alternate strategies such as sovereign land routes offers promise but may inflate operating costs substantially for telecom operators and data providers serving India’s fast-growing network needs. Collaboration within global ecosystems-such as FLAG’s multimodal Gulf-European Transit Route-could reduce vulnerabilities effectively while fostering resilience.

Insurance hikes and repair difficulties reflect broader challenges faced globally by cable operators working in conflict-prone regions-a reality that India must factor into its long-term planning given its expanding role as an international hub for data traffic growth projections.

The government’s deliberations over building domestic repair fleets signal a proactive approach that could mitigate external dependencies during crises while bolstering India’s capability in managing critical infrastructure autonomously amidst rising geopolitical instability.