Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison penned a non-binding memorandum of understanding with subsea cable provider Inligo Networks to build a high-capacity underwater fibre optic telecommunications cable system in Indonesia.
The project will begin construction in 2022 with the route first connecting Singapore, Batam, and Jakarta. By mid-2023 cables will be laid between Medan, Makassar, Kupang, Dili (Timor Leste) to Darwin (Australia), followed by the construction from Manado to Guam by the end of 2023.
The project is forecast to be completed by 2024 when connecting Guam to Los Angeles (United States), and fully connecting Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and the US.
Newly merged Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison stated in a press release the Inligo Networks Asia Connect Cable System or ACC-1 will stretch 18,000km in length.
The partnership will support Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison's vision to become the most preferred digital telco of Indonesia by developing a new low-latency data network through fibre optic cables, connecting multiple Indonesian cities to Australia, Guam, Singapore, and the United States through Indonesian waters on the 18,000km system.
The partnership boosts the country's aims to have 4G available across all regions in Indonesia, particularly in its most remote regions, while laying the foundations for 5G for future technologies.
The ACC-1 subsea cable system can provide connections speeds up to 128Tbps and enables wider connection across the country particularly for locations in eastern Indonesia. The company expects the network capacity boost will be seen in the B2C and B2B.
Desmond Cheung, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison chief technology officer: “This partnership allows Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to be an exclusive partner for the Inligo Submarine network, providing high-capacity connectivity within Indonesia and the rest of the Pacific region, including the potential to reduce costs in developing advanced connectivity reaching the eastern part of Indonesia and expand our product portfolio in wholesale telecommunication services.
"The partnership is also in line with our long-term commitment in accelerating Indonesia’s digital transformation agenda as we believe it must be underpinned by a sophisticated submarine cable system like the ACC-1.”
"Our collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison will drive better connectivity and functionality within Indonesia, across Southeast Asia, and the Pacific region. As a submarine cable network plays a vital part in connecting the Indonesian archipelagos, the partnership will increase data traffic, facilitate data transfer, internet access, and cloud storage which now become an integral part of increasingly digital society and digital nations,” said Brian Evans, Inligo Networks CEO.
