Sri Lanka to Mauritius: 255ms via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and TATA's Indian Ocean Backbone
Based on real RIPE Atlas measurements from GeoCables monitoring infrastructure, March 2026
Mauritius and Sri Lanka are both Indian Ocean island nations — separated by approximately 4,500km of open ocean. A direct cable route between them would be ideal. Instead, our traceroute shows a packet leaving Colombo traveling north to Chennai, then east to Singapore, then back west to Kuala Lumpur, and finally south to Mauritius. Total distance traveled: roughly 14,000km for a 4,500km destination.
The Traceroute
| Hop | Location | Network | RTT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | Colombo, LK | Local network | 9ms |
| 6 | Colombo, LK | TATA/VSNL (AS4755) | 0.3ms |
| 7–8 | Internal | TATA internal routing | 27–43ms |
| 9 | Chennai, IN | TATA (AS6453) | 46ms |
| 11 | Singapore, SG | TATA (AS6453) | 74ms |
| 12–15 | Internal TATA | — | 79–91ms |
| 16 | Kuala Lumpur, MY | TM Technology (AS4788) | 258ms |
| 17–18 | Beau Bassin, MU | EMTEL (AS30999) | 259ms |
| 19 | Beau Bassin, MU | AfriNIC (AS37708) | 255ms |
The final destination resolves to AfriNIC — the African Network Information Centre, the regional internet registry that manages IP addresses for Africa. AfriNIC is headquartered in Mauritius, making the island the administrative hub for African internet addressing.
TATA Communications: The Indian Ocean Backbone
TATA carries the packet from Colombo all the way to Kuala Lumpur without any handoff. Only at KL does TM Technology (Telekom Malaysia) take over for the final delivery to Mauritius. TATA built Singapore as its Asian hub, so all Indian Ocean traffic passes through Singapore first — regardless of destination. Key cables concentrating in Singapore: TGN-Intra Asia, TGN-Gulf, and Unity/EAJ.
The Singapore Detour
Singapore is 2,400km northeast of Colombo — in the opposite direction from Mauritius. Yet all TATA's Indian Ocean routing passes through Singapore because that's where TATA's major cable infrastructure concentrates. This is a classic hub-and-spoke architecture: rather than routing directly, it's more efficient to use a well-connected central node.
The Kuala Lumpur Anomaly
The jump from Singapore (74ms) to Kuala Lumpur (258ms) — a 184ms increase for a city just 350km away — cannot be geographic. The speed-of-light minimum for 350km is under 2ms. The explanation: the 258ms RTT at KL represents traffic that has already traveled from Singapore through submarine cables to Mauritius. The geolocation shows "Kuala Lumpur" but the actual routing goes Singapore → submarine cable → Mauritius landing station.
Mauritius: Africa's Internet Crossroads
AfriNIC manages IP address allocation for 56 African countries from Mauritius. EMTEL (AS30999) is Mauritius's main mobile and internet operator. Mauritius sits on the route of SEACOM and SAFE cables, making it a natural relay for Indian Ocean traffic.
The Direct Alternative
A geographically optimal path would use SEACOM: Colombo → Mumbai → SEACOM → Mauritius. Estimated RTT: ~80–100ms. The current 255ms is 2.5× the theoretical optimum — reflecting TATA's hub-and-spoke architecture prioritizing Singapore over direct Indian Ocean routing.
Monitoring Status
- Current RTT: 255ms
- Carrier: TATA Communications from Colombo to Kuala Lumpur
- Path: Colombo → Chennai → Singapore → submarine cable → Mauritius
- Final network: AfriNIC (AS37708) — Africa's regional internet registry