ASN announces it has started building the Bifrost Cable System, a new submarine telecommunications system that will connect Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam and the west coast of North America.
ASN announces it has started building the Bifrost Cable System, a new submarine telecommunications system that will connect Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam and the west coast of North America.
Paris - May 10, 2021
Joint build partners Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Limited (Keppel T&T), through a wholly owned subsidiary, Keppel Midgard Holdings Pte. Ltd. (KMH), a subsidiary of Facebook Inc. (Facebook) and PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), a subsidiary of PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk have announced the signing of the joint build contract with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) for the manufacturing and laying of the Bifrost Cable System, a new submarine telecommunications cable that will directly connect Singapore to the west coast of North America via Indonesia, the Philippines and Guam, through the Java Sea and Celebes Sea.
The new cable, spanning more than 15,000km will meet the growing bandwidth demand between Asia and the American continent, as well as provide direct and high-performance connectivity between Singapore and the west coast of North America.
The Bifrost cable system, when completed, will be the highest capacity system across the Pacific Ocean and will also feature a significant innovation - the use of SDM1 technology.
The system will also feature very high traffic availability, thanks to its ability of multiple single-end feeding electrical reconfigurations. In addition, with the use of ASN OALC-4 Deep Water Armored cable in areas of intensive fishing activity, the Bifrost Cable System will benefit from safe and reliable protection during its installation operations as well as during its 25-years design life.
Cable laying is scheduled over 2023 and will be ready for operation in early 2024.
Alain Biston, President of ASN says "We are proud that Keppel, Facebook and Telin have trusted ASN to build this direct Singapore-North America cable. We will mobilize our enhanced production facilities to deliver a highly reliable and high-capacity system, implementing our SDM technology over transpacific distances. This new submarine system will add very significant bandwidth and resilience to the vital Asia to North America route, contributing to making the worldwide network stronger and safer."