Keppel’s Bifrost Cable System which directly links Singapore to the US via Indonesia achieves “ready for service” status and will start carrying commercial traffic in the coming weeks.
According to Keppel, Bifrost is the world’s first subsea cable system directly linking Singapore to the West Coast of the USA through the Java sea and Celebes sea. It spans over 20,000 kilometres, and will offer a round-trip latency of just under 165 milliseconds, up to 10 milliseconds faster than existing systems.
Keppel has been assigned five out of a total of 12 fibre pairs in Bifrost. These five fibre pairs are jointly owned by Keppel and its private fund co-investors through a 40-60 joint venture.
Bifrost lands in Singapore, Guam, and Grover Beach, California, with branching units extending connectivity to Jakarta and Manado in Indonesia, Davao in the Philippines, and Winema, Oregon in the US.
Keppel did not specify the exact date that the Bifrost will begin carrying commercial traffic.
Keppel, together with Meta and Telin as joint build partners, started the Bifrost Cable System in March 2021 with a share cost of US$350 million ($450.44 million).
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Of these five pairs that Keppel has been assigned, two fibre pairs have since been committed to customers through Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRU) for 25 years, while IRUs for the remaining three fibre pairs are currently being negotiated with potential customers, according to a release by Keppel in January.
"The Bifrost Cable System will reinforce Singapore’s position as a leading digital hub in Asia and support the region’s rapidly growing digital economy. We look forward to expanding our subsea cable footprint across Asia and beyond, as an integrated ecosystem partner to global cloud players and technology leaders," says Manjot Singh Mann, CEO, Connectivity, Keppel.
Shares in Keppel closed 18 cents higher or 2.009% up at $9.14 on Oct 2.
