Tata Communications, RailTel Partner to Build India's AI-Ready Digital Backbone

According to an exchange filing, the association integrates RailTel's neutral telecom network, which spans over 63,000 route km of optical fibre, with Tata Communications' cloud and cybersecurity framework. This partnership focuses on enabling secure and sovereign cloud adoption for sensitive workloads while leveraging AI-enabled platforms to improve the performance of digital operations. For Tata Communications, the move facilitates the extension of its digital fabric into critical public and enterprise environments at a national scale.

RailTel, a Navaratna Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), currently connects more than 6,000 railway stations and serves as an information and communication technology partner for government departments and banks. Through this collaboration, the organisations plan to provide faster connectivity and more resilient systems for ministries and state governments.

Public services, including railway Wi-Fi, digital governance platforms, and surveillance systems, are expected to see improved reliability as a result of the integrated infrastructure.

"RailTel has always played a foundational role in connecting India. The collaboration with Tata Communications allows us to strengthen that role by bringing in advanced capabilities that will help our customers modernise their systems, improve resilience and serve citizens more effectively. Together, we are building a more dependable and future-ready digital backbone for the country," said Sanjai Kumar, Chairman and MD, RailTel.

Ministries, state governments, PSUs and enterprises that rely on RailTel's network can expect faster connectivity, more resilient systems and stronger safeguards for data. Citizen-facing services such as railway Wi-Fi, public broadband, surveillance systems and digital governance platforms will also benefit from proposed improved performance and reliability.

Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Tata Communications, stated, "As India moves from digital adoption to AI leadership, our collaboration with RailTel is building the backbone for a secure, smart, and sovereign future. By delivering, robust, AI-ready infrastructure from the center to the edge, we are empowering a resilient India. Together with RailTel we aim to innovate with confidence, ensuring the technology of tomorrow is a reality for every citizen today."

"This collaboration marks an important step in the Digital India journey, bringing together RailTel's unparalleled physical footprint and public sector experience with Tata Communications' expertise in building secure, high-performance digital ecosystems," the filing said.

- ANI