New subsea cable to link Singapore with Batam, Indonesia

Singtel and PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin) agreed to develop a new submarine cable system connecting Singapore and Batam, Indonesia, under the newly formed INSICA (Indonesia Singapore Cable System) Consortium.

When operational in the fourth quarter of 2026, the 100-km INSICA cable system will support the surge in data centre telecommunications traffic between Singapore and Batam. INSICA will feature 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 will deliver exceptional bandwidth, seamless connectivity and robust network security and enable efficient resource sharing and scalability. The new diverse link provided by INSICA will enhance network protection and reliability, ensuring uninterrupted 24/7 operations for data centres.

Mr Ooi Seng Keat, Vice President of Digital Infrastructure & Services at Singtel, stated, “Batam is emerging as a prime location for data centres due to its close proximity to Singapore. With this cable system, we’ll be able to enhance the 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 yet another step that we’re taking in architecting a hyper-connected, digital ecosystem to serve the long-term demands of the region’s digital future and boost the regional economy.”