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Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus), the private equity firm that owns submarine cable supplier SubCom, has taken a majority stake in Datawave Networks Ltd (Datawave), a Cyprus-based independent subsea infrastructure provider and the developer of the long-delayed Singapore-India-Gulf (SING) cable. This strategic investment resolves the project's critical funding deadlock, finally unlocking a construction plan that had been in place but dormant for years.
In parallel, Datawave has entered into an agreement with a leading U.S.-based supplier of subsea cable systems, SubCom, regarding the design, manufacture, and deployment of the SING cable system. The SING cable system is targeting Ready for Service (RFS) in 2030.
The SING cable system is planned to land in Muscat, Oman; Kalba, United Arab Emirates; Mumbai and Chennai, India; Kedah, Malaysia; and Singapore, creating a high-capacity, low-latency route linking key digital hubs across the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Once completed, the SING cable system will comprise 16 fibre pairs, each designed to deliver a minimum of 18 terabits per second, providing scalable, future-proofed capacity to meet accelerating regional connectivity requirements.
A Decade-Long Venture
The history of the SING cable project can be tracked back to 2019 or even earlier, when Datawave initiated the project which was announced in April 2020. Datawave’s Indian subsidiary, Datawave Networks Private Limited, was incorporated on 12 September 2019. Acquired its International Long Distance (ILD) license in 2021, Datawave Networks Private Limited will act as the Landing Party for SING in India.
Datawave had previously selected SubCom as its supplier. However, the inability to secure the hundreds of millions of dollars required for construction left the project stranded, causing it to miss its initial target service date of Q2 2023.
Cerberus's investment directly addresses this "financing gap," transitioning the project from planning to execution. With secured financing support by Cerberus, and SubCom officially contracted as the turnkey supplier, the SING cable project is now achieving a milestone progress and targeting a ready-for-service (RFS) date of 2030.
The Cerberus-Datawave-SubCom Nexus
The structure of this deal is noteworthy, creating a powerful nexus between investor, developer, and supplier:
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Cerberus as the Financial and Strategic Architect: Through its private equity arm, Cerberus is not merely a passive investor. By taking majority control, it provides the capital and strategic oversight to "accelerate SING into reality," as stated by its representative, Gabriel Schulze. Cerberus's expertise in complex, asset-intensive turnarounds is directly applied here.
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Datawave as the Operational Project Vehicle: Datawave retains its role as the project's operational company and licensee. Its years of developmental work—securing landing agreements, preliminary route surveys, and the crucial Indian license — provided the "unique positioning" and "anchor customer commitments" that made the project attractive for Cerberus's investment.
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SubCom as the Turnkey Supplier: With SubCom — a leading global supplier with over 100 completed cable systems — already under contract and under the same corporate umbrella, the path from funding to physical deployment is streamlined. This removes the procurement and contractual risks that often delay major projects.
This structure suggests a move toward a more integrated, financially streamlined model for building digital infrastructure, reducing the friction that often exists between independent developers, investors, and suppliers.
The takeover of the SING cable project by Cerberus represents a pivotal shift from years of frustrated potential to a clear path forward. By solving the fundamental funding problem and unifying project ownership with supplier capability, Cerberus has effectively turned the lights back on for a critical piece of intercontinental infrastructure. If successfully delivered by 2030, the SING cable will not only enhance global connectivity but also validate a powerful new model for financing and building the backbone of the digital economy.
