NEW DELHI: Tata Communications will jointly build a fibre optic cable with China Telecom to provide a new high-speed connectivity path between both the countries.

"The India-China Terrestrial Cable will go a long way in meeting the business needs of two of the world's fastest emerging economies. The new route, coupled with Tata Communications' other subsea cable investments, will also provide a new high-speed connectivity path between Europe and Asia by transiting India and China," Tata Communications Senior VP Byron J Clatterbuck said.

"The new 500-km long India-China terrestrial is a 12- month long project and is expected to go live soon. The India-China route will be a key route providing much needed diversity from the subsea cable systems and avoid straits of Malacca and earthquake prone zones around Taiwan," said a Tata Communications spokesperson.

The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.

Recently Tata Communications signed an agreement with the Qatar-based Qtel for a new undersea cable network that will connect a number of regional operators in the Gulf region with the country.