Jakarta. Australian telecommunications company Telstra International and Trans Pacific Networks (TPN) have announced a collaboration to build the first subsea cable connecting Indonesia and Singapore to the United States. 

The Echo cable will link California, Jakarta, Singapore, and Guam, providing important connectivity in Southeast Asia.

“Partially funded by the US International Development Finance Corporation, the Echo subsea cable system will be a critical element of the Indo-Pacific’s digital infrastructure, ultimately strengthening networks and increasing capacity while reducing internet costs in the region,” Trans Pacific Networks CFO Aaaron Knapik said in a statement on Tuesday.

TPN is part of a global consortium constructing an undersea telecommunications network from the US to South East Asia which avoids the South China Sea.

The initial cable system will be operational this year, and the additional connecting cables will be installed in 2025.

CEO of Telstra International Roary Stasko said that the new cable would be built in a geographical area that is one of the more challenging regions in the world regarding regulation as well as subsea cable cuts.

Telstra International’s partner in Indonesia is telecommunications operator XL Axiata who will be responsible for landing the subsea cable and delivering services to people in Indonesia.

XL Axiata started the project in 2021 and in 2022, the Echo Submarine Cable Communication System (SCCS) docked at Tanjung Pakis, Karawang Regency, West Java, marking the beginning of the 15,000 km subsea internet cable project.

The company already operates several SCCSs that support global internet access such as Batam to Sarawak which started in June 2022, and Australia to Indonesia to Singapore which has been in operation since October 2018.

For a country that was recently reported to have the highest mobile app screen time in the world exceeding six hours per day (according to Data.ai), Indonesia only sits above Myanmar and Timor Leste for mobile internet download speed out of the eleven ASEAN countries.

Based on the Speedtest Global Index report, Indonesia ranks as the third lowest country in Southeast Asia for median download speed using mobile internet at 24.96 megabits per second (Mbps).

The Index reported Singapore to be the 19th fastest on a global scale, and the number one fastest out of the ASEAN countries with a mobile internet download speed of 93.42 Mbps.