New Subsea Cable Connecting Singapore and Indonesia’s Batam Island

June 2024

Singtel and Indonesia’s Telin have partnered to establish a new submarine cable system connecting Singapore and Batam Island in Indonesia. The two Southeast Asian telecom operators announced on Friday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to construct the 100km Indonesia Singapore Cable System (INSICA), which is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2026.

According to the operators, INSICA will include a 24-fiber pair subsea cable and two diverse terrestrial cable paths, offering a maximum capacity of up to 20 terabits per second per fiber pair. This new diverse link will enhance network protection and reliability, ensuring continuous 24/7 operations for data centers.

With this cable system, the company expects to enhance connectivity between the countries to support the intensive, higher-power-density AI workloads of enterprises and cloud companies. The development of the INSICA cable system is a step towards creating a hyper-connected digital ecosystem to meet the region’s future digital demands and boost the regional economy.

According to TeleGeography, three additional cable systems under construction (besides INSICA) will have landing stations on the island. These include Apricot, set to be operational in 2026, and Asia Connect Cable-1 and Hawaiki Nui 1, both expected to launch in 2027.

Singtel emphasized Batam’s growing significance as a data center hub due to its proximity to Singapore, highlighting the need for a new subsea system to manage internet traffic between the locations. Batam, along with Johor in Malaysia, has become an alternative location for data center operators expanding into Southeast Asia. The island has over one million people and is a major economic hub of Indonesia.

(Source: Light Reading)

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