Ludovic Hutier, chief executive officer of BW Digital, said that the ceremony on Monday marked the culmination of two years of development, with the system expected to operate fully in September this year.
“This is the first subsea cable to land directly at Nongsa Digital Park, where the data centres are located. It provides a direct connection between data centres in Batam and Singapore, making connectivity faster and more efficient,” Hutier told CNA.
Indonesian conglomerate Citramas Group began the development of Nongsa Digital Park in March 2018, with support from both the Indonesian and Singapore governments as part of broader bilateral efforts to develop Batam as a digital bridge between the two countries.
It was officiated by then-Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi and her Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.
The Nongsa-Changi Cable will provide more than 1.6 petabits per second of additional capacity while connecting Batam and Singapore with a latency of less than two milliseconds, said Gan, who is also Singapore’s minister for trade and industry.
Gan said the project could bring more opportunities for Singapore, Indonesia and even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as member states work towards signing the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework agreement later this year.
It will be ASEAN’s first comprehensive, region-wide agreement dedicated to the digital economy, aimed at strengthening digital connectivity and integration among ASEAN Member States.
The agreement aims to establish common rules and frameworks that facilitate digital trade, simplify digital trade procedures, support trusted cross-border data flows, enhance digital payments and electronic transactions, strengthen online consumer protection, and promote greater digital interoperability across the region, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.