(Jan 24): The first subsea cable system directly connecting Singapore to the American west coast has been granted a landing licence by the US, according to Keppel Ltd, bolstering the city-state’s push as Asia’s leading digital hub.

The Bifrost Cable System, a joint project between Keppel, Meta Platforms Inc subsidiary Edge Cable Holdings USA LLC and PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International, is expected to be ready for commercial operations in the second half of 2025, Keppel said in a statement on Friday.

The trans-pacific cable system was estimated by SubmarineNetworks.com to be worth US$760 million (RM3.3 billion). Keppel puts its share at US$350 million, according to the release.

Spanning over 20,000 kilometres (12,427 miles) connecting the US and Singapore via Indonesia through Java Sea and Celebes Sea, Bifrost “will significantly enhance Singapore’s strategic position as Asia’s leading digital hub as well as support the region’s fast-growing digital economy,” it said.

Singapore wants to double its capacity for subsea cable landings as it seeks to bolster its status as a hub for systems that together account for nearly all of the world’s internet. With undersea cables becoming a component of the US-China rivalry, unaligned Southeast Asian nations stand to benefit as big tech companies seek ways to expand bandwidth in Asia without running through China.

As such, submarine cables and data centres are expected to catalyse around S$20 billion in investments for Singapore, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said in 2023. The island nation is also looking at potentially up to S$12 billion building new green data centres.

Bifrost is the first subsea cable system linking Southeast Asia to the US to be approved in the past eight years, according to the statement.

It was originally slated for completion in the second quarter of last year but the project was delayed due to bad weather and difficulties to get permits for the cable to land in Indonesia, according to industry watcher SubmarineNetworks.

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