Bharti Airtel arm inks pact with global operator Sparkle to enhance connectivity with Europe

Airtel Business, the B2B arm of telecom major Bharti Airtel, has inked a pact with Italy-based global operator Sparkle to enhance connectivity between Asia and Europe. As part of the partnership, Airtel will take capacity from Sparkle on the Blue-Raman submarine cable Systems, which will connect India to Italy.

Under Sparkle's Blue-Raman cable system, Blue is deployed across Italy, France, Greece and Israel, while Raman connects Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman and India.

"With this additional capacity, Airtel will further diversify its global network across multiple international submarine cable systems to serve the growing demand for data services in India and neighbouring countries," a company statement said.


The partnership will also work on the development of new business opportunities and projects in the Indian sub-continent, leveraging Airtel and Sparkle's respective cable infrastructures, the statement said.

Airtel Business Global Business CEO Vani Venkatesh said the partnership will further diversify Airtel's network with large integrated capacities to meet the connectivity needs and data demand of customers.

"We are very pleased with this agreement, based on the new solution provided by Blue & Raman, that supports the digital growth of the region and strengthens our historical partnership with Bharti Airtel," Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle, said.