The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has sought details of the arrangements made by Reliance Communications [Get Quote] to restore bandwidth in case of submarine cable failure.

The move gains importance as four sub-sea cable systems on the trans-Atlantic route were severed on December 19, and telecom companies were re-routing traffic through the trans-Pacific leg. In a letter dated December 24, the regulator has also sought details of the arrangement made by RCom to re-route traffic 'via alternative routes in case of such failures'.

The regulator had also sought the date of the formal request and details of any of the meetings with senior Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] officials. Sunil Mittal controlled Bharti Airtel has two submarine cables -- consortium cable SEA-ME-WE-4 (SMW-4) and own cable i2i -- in Chennai.

When contacted, an RCom spokesperson said: "In order to ensure the highest service delivery to our customers, Reliance Globalcom has capacity on six diverse cable routes out of India.

The superior planning and provisioning ensured that 100 per cent uptime of International Private Leasedline Circuit (IPLC) and voice traffic, and high levels of internet traffic and high levels of internet traffic. As the network goes for freeze during Christmas and New Year, additional capacity was sought on SMW-4 to ensure that there is no congestion even in case of surge in traffic levels".

Reliance Globalcom is currently pursuing the world's largest undersea cable expansion project to add over 50,000 km of fully IP-enabled optic network. Reliance Globalcom's Hawk System, currently under construction in the Mediterranean region, once completed would further enhance the resilience and diversity, he added.