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Scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2025, Bifrost is the first submarine cable system between Southeast Asia and the US to be approved in the last eight years.
Bifrost, the first submarine cable system to directly connect Singapore to the West Coast of North America, has been granted a US submarine cable landing license, reinforcing the country's position as a major digital hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
The license, issued by the United States Federal Communications Commission (USFCC), is the final hurdle in an extensive transnational regulatory approval process that would pave the way for Bifrost's successful deployment, Singapore-based company Keppel said in an announcement on Friday.
It noted that Bifrost is the first subsea cable system between Southeast Asia and the US to be approved in the last eight years.
Keppel, together with Meta and Indonesia's Telin, is building the more than 20,000km submarine cable system at an estimated cost of US$760 million, of which Keppel is contributing $350 million.
The Bifrost cable system connects Singapore to the US through Indonesia by passing through the Java Sea and the Celebes Sea.
It was originally scheduled to enter service in the second quarter of 2024, but was delayed due to bad weather and difficulties in obtaining permits to land the cable in Indonesia and pass through Indonesian waters. It was not until the beginning of June 2024 that Telin began the construction of the cable landing station in Jakarta for the Bifrost cable system.
According to Keppel, Bifrost has started system commissioning and acceptance testing on Tuesday. It is expected to be ready for commercial service in the second half of 2025.
"We look forward to Bifrost's successful deployment, which will not only deliver enhanced connectivity and network diversity to our customers but also generate attractive returns for Keppel and our private fund co-investors," Loh Chin Hua, Keppel CEO, said in a statement.
"We have received strong customer interest in our three uncommitted fiber pairs, whose prices have risen significantly as Bifrost approaches service readiness. Consequently, the expected Internal Rate of Return for our investment has risen to over 30% per annum," he added.
Keppel has been allocated five fiber pairs out of a total of 12 in the Bifrost cable system. These five fiber pairs are jointly owned by Keppel and its private fund co-investors through a 40-60 joint venture. Of these, two fiber pairs have now been committed to customers for 25 years through Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRU), while IRUs for the remaining three fiber pairs are currently being negotiated with potential customers.
Bifrost's cable landing station in Singapore will be located at Keppel DC REIT’s SGP 5 data center in Jurong.
Singapore to double subsea cable landings
As part of its goal to improve digital connectivity, Singapore announced last year its intention to double the city-state's capacity for international submarine cable landings over the next decade.
There are currently 26 submarine cables connected to Singapore via three landing sites. It has been reported that expanding the number of subsea cables will require at least 10 billion Singapore dollars (US$7.38 billion) in investment, mainly from the private sector.
Submarine cables and green data centers are key components of the city's new Digital Connectivity Blueprint, which aims to strengthen Singapore's position as a major digital hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
"We are building capacity for the widespread use of new applications that the current bandwidth will not be good enough for, such as those with data-intensive operations or heavy use of AI," said Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo in The Straits Times in November.
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