SUBCO Announced Three Major Subsea Cable Systems
New 40,000-kilometer infrastructure aims to accommodate rising international data demands from AI workloads.
Updated on Oct. 4, 2026 in Data Centers
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SUBCO has announced plans for three new subsea cable systems spanning a combined 40,000 kilometers across the Indo-Pacific. The expansion is designed to address the surging international data movement driven by artificial intelligence workloads.
Why it matters
The build marks a significant effort to increase global subsea capacity as data center interconnectivity becomes a bottleneck for AI scaling. The project addresses the immediate infrastructure strain caused by the massive data flows between major regional hubs.
Each of the three new cable systems, APX North, APX East-2, and APX West, will feature 24 fibre pairs. These systems utilize switched branching units, allowing for the re-routing of fibre pairs to bypass landing points as needed.
The players
SUBCO
An international subsea cable operator that manages critical data infrastructure, including the INDIGO and Oman Australia Cable networks.
The details
The project uses subsea cable architecture to bridge long distances, specifically linking Sydney to Japan via Guam, Guam to Los Angeles, and Perth to Singapore with branches to Jakarta and Batam. The integration of switched branching units enables more granular control over data traffic, permitting operators to redirect capacity without physical intervention at each landing site. The systems are intended to support the high-throughput requirements of AI training clusters that necessitate low-latency, high-bandwidth intercontinental connections.
Timeline
Early 2027: Expected Contract in Force status for all three systems.
2028: Target ready-for-service date for the APX East-2 system.
2029: Targeted completion for all three new cable systems.
The Tech Race
This build represents a major expansion for SUBCO, which currently operates the INDIGO and Oman Australia Cable networks. It follows a broader industry trend of private infrastructure investment to bypass congested public transit routes between AI training hubs.
While the project is industrial, the completed cables will ultimately reduce latency for international AI-driven cloud services once commissioned in 2029. Commercial users and data centers relying on low-latency connections across the Pacific and Indian Oceans will be the primary beneficiaries.
The takeaway
As AI workloads demand greater intercontinental bandwidth, look for more private investment in high-count fibre systems to bypass traditional carrier bottlenecks. Watch for the 2027 milestone to confirm the project remains on schedule for its 2029 completion target.
What happens next
SUBCO expects all three cable systems to reach Contract in Force status by early 2027.
Further reading
For more context on the infrastructure supporting global compute, explore Data Centers.
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