Telin Breaks Ground the Construction of Bifrost Cable Landing Station in Minahasa

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, announced on Thursday that the company has had a groundbreaking ceremony for its Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Kalasey, Minahasa. The CLS is part of the Bifrost cable system, connecting Southeast Asia to North America via Indonesia. 

The Bifrost cable system is developing through a partnership between Telin, Keppel, and Meta, designed with 12 fiber-pair SDM technology and a capacity of 10.4Tbps per fiber pair, supplied by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN).

The Bifrost cable system will directly link Indonesia to the United States, traversing key routes through the Java Sea and Celebes Sea, spanning approximately 16,000 kilometers, with landing points in Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Guam and west of coast of the United States.

The Bifrost cable system will cater to the rapidly growing connectivity demands in Southeast Asia, providing direct access to North America, lower latency, and network diversity. Equipped with state-of-the-art subsea optical transmission technology, it will benefit a wide range of industries, including telecom operators, OTT providers, cloud service providers, and data centers, offering highly competitive pricing and resilient network capacity. 

With this groundbreaking in Minahasa, the Bifrost cable system will integrate Indonesia’s second international gateway after Batam, supporting the country's eastern region's digital and economic development. 

Batam is considered as the first international gateway for Indonesia, with various subsea cable connecting Singapore and the world. Telin envisions Manado as Indonesia’s second gateway for connectivity.

With the groundbreaking of the Minahasa Cable Landing Station (Minahasa CLS), Manado is set to become the next major hub after Batam and marks a pivotal step in Telkom’s vision to bolster Indonesia’s digital backbone.

This new Minahasa CLS will support the Bifrost cable and future cable systems, reshaping the technology landscape by allowing major tech companies and OTT providers to enter Indonesia through Manado.  This development secures Manado as a key global connectivity point, linking Indonesia to the world and meeting the growing demand for seamless global connections. 

The new Minahasa CLS will support the Bifrost cable and future cable systems. The BMH and Fronthaul are designed to accommodate up to four cable systems, ensuring future scalability.

This year, we’ve also initiated the 7 ICE (Indonesia Cable Express) cable system projects. These initiatives are set to strengthen connectivity in the Manado area, positioning it as the second gateway in Eastern Indonesia and linking it to global subsea cables like IGG, SEA-US, Bifrost, and more.

The Minahasa CLS is a cornerstone of Indonesia’s digital infrastructure, set to drive innovation, enhance regional collaboration, and support Indonesia’s digital transformation agenda. As Indonesia strengthens its global connectivity links, the Bifrost cable system will serve as a backbone for the nation’s economic and technological advancement. 

In addition to the new Minahasa CLS, Telin started the construction of a new cable landing station in Jakarta for the Bifrost cable system in June 2024.