The India-Asia Express (IAX) subsea cable has landed in Hulhumalé in the Maldives.

The decision to bring IAX to the Maldives has been in the works for over a year.

The project was initiated by Ocean Connect Maldives (OCM), an ICT infrastructure and international gateway access service provider that is 100 percent owned by the Maldives government.

OCM pushed for the subsea cable project in February 2022, signing a $22.5 million agreement with IAX leader Reliance Jio to land the cable in the country.

This was followed by OCM signing another agreement with the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to lease land in Hulhumalé to establish a landing station in November 2022. The HDC launched a containerized data center in Hulhamale in March 2023, though it is unclear if the two projects are related.

The Maldives is already connected to India and Sri Lanka via the Falcon, Dhiraagu SLT cable network, and the Maldives Sri Lanka Cable System.

The nation has also approved the development of a disaster recovery site and landing station for the Peace cable in Kulhudhuffushi in the north of the Maldives and is participating in the consortium for the Sea-Me-We 6 cable.

The IAX cable landed in Matara, Sri Lanka, in April of this year. The project was first announced in May 2021, with plans to connect Mumbai and Chennai to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, adding the Maldives to the list the following year. It is expected to go live at some point this year.