Car Nicobar, India

Car Nicobar: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Car Nicobar is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands, forming part of the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As one of three local administrative divisions of the Nicobar district, it sits in a geographically remote island setting in the eastern Indian Ocean. One submarine cable lands at Car Nicobar, connecting this island territory directly to mainland India.

The single cable serving Car Nicobar is the Chennai-Andaman & Nicobar Islands Cable, commonly known as CANI. This system links Car Nicobar with other landing points in India, establishing a domestic submarine corridor between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Indian mainland. Rather than serving intercontinental or cross-border routes, the CANI cable functions as an intra-national link, dedicated entirely to connecting India's remote island territories with the rest of the country.

Cables Landing at Car Nicobar

The Chennai-Andaman & Nicobar Islands Cable (CANI) is a 2,300-kilometre submarine cable system that reached ready-for-service (RFS) status in 2020. As its name indicates, the cable runs between Chennai on India's southeastern mainland coast and multiple landing points across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with all endpoints located within India. Car Nicobar is one of those island landing points along the CANI system, receiving domestic connectivity through this route.

Regional Context

Within India's submarine cable landscape, Car Nicobar hosts a single cable, placing it alongside a small group of Indian landing points — including Agatti, Amini, and Andrott — that each serve one cable. This contrasts with major Indian hubs such as Mumbai, which hosts 18 cables, and Chennai, which hosts 9. Car Nicobar ranks in the top 88% of India's 26 submarine cable landing points by cable count, reflecting its specialised role as an island terminus rather than a major international gateway.

Network Role

Car Nicobar functions as a single-cable terminus on the CANI system, enabling submarine-based connectivity between India's Nicobar Islands and the Indian mainland. The CANI cable, at 2,300 kilometres, is considerably shorter than India's average submarine cable length of approximately 8,059 kilometres, underscoring its domestic rather than international character. The landing point does not participate in any intercontinental submarine cable routes.

Within the broader Indian submarine cable graph, Car Nicobar represents one of several island landing points that depend on a single dedicated domestic cable for their connectivity. Its presence in the network highlights the role that purpose-built intra-national submarine systems play in extending connectivity to geographically isolated island communities within India's union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.