The United States has granted a subsea cable landing licence to Keppel’s Bifrost Cable System, a joint project with Edge Cable Holdings USA (Meta) and Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin).
The United States Federal Communications Commission (USFCC) licence permits the landing of a submarine cable to connect the continental US with any foreign country.
Keppel said the achievement of the USFCC cable landing licence marked the final approval in an extensive transnational regulatory approval process, paving the way for Bifrost’s successful deployment.
Construction of Bifrost began in 2021, Keppel was assigned five out of a total of 12 fibre pairs with its share of cost being US$350m (€335m).
It is the first subsea cable system linking Southeast Asia to the US to be approved in the past eight years.
Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel, said: “Achieving the USFCC’s approval for the Bifrost Cable System is a significant milestone for the project.
“This landmark project, a testament to our strong partnership with Meta and Telin, will entrench Keppel as a strategic ecosystem partner to global cloud players and technology leaders, as we pursue our growth plans in digital infrastructure.”
Bifrost, which commenced system commissioning and acceptance testing this week, is expected to be ready for commercial service in the second half of this year.
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