Inligo Networks is a start-up company, established in 2020 and acquired a telecommunications carrier licence from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in 2021. The licence permits Inligo Networks to build, own and operate carriage services within Australia. Inligo Networks initiated the Asia Connect Cable (ACC-1) System which is expected to link Singapore, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Australia, and Guam, with connections in Japan, spanning a total cable length of approximately 18,000 km.
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison is the merger of PT Indosat Tbk and PT Hutchison 3 Indonesia, completed on January 4, 2022. Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison is now the second largest mobile operator in Indonesia.
The construction of the ACC-1, which will provide up to a 240 Tbps network throughout the system, will allow Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to provide a broader network, especially for eastern Indonesia, and increase network capacity for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) services throughout Indonesia.
Chief Technology Officer of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Desmond Cheung, said, “This partnership allows Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to be an exclusive landing partner for the Inligo Submarine network, providing high-capacity connectivity within Indonesia and the rest of the Pacific region, including the potential to reduce costs in developing advanced connectivity reaching the eastern part of Indonesia and increase our incremental revenue in wholesale telecommunication services. The partnership is also in line with our long-term commitment in accelerating Indonesia’s digital transformation agenda as we believe it must be underpinned by a sophisticated submarine cable system like the ACC-1.”
Affairs and Fisheries Number 14 of 2021 on the Submarine Pipelines and Cable Systems regulates how a foreign company must partner with an Indonesian licensed telco company in establishing the international submarine networks through Indonesian territory. The law contains a list of 43 underwater pipeline segments, 217 underwater cable line segments, and 209 BMH (Beach Main Hole), including four designated landing stations located in Batam, Kupang, Manado, and Jayapura.
The Inligo Networks ACC-1 mega project will begin construction in 2022, with the first route connecting Singapore, Batam, and Jakarta. In mid-2023, subsea telecommunications cables will be constructed from Medan, Makassar, Kupang, Dili (Timor Leste) to Darwin (Australia), followed by the construction from Manado, to Guam by the end of 2023. The project is expected to be completed in 2024, connecting Guam to Los Angeles (United States), and fully connecting Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and the United States.
Chairman of Inligo Networks, Brian Evans, said, “Indonesia has a great opportunity to become a digital powerhouse of Southeast Asia. Our collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison will drive better connectivity and functionality within Indonesia, across Southeast Asia, and the Pacific region. As a submarine cable network plays a vital part in connecting the Indonesian archipelagos, the partnership will increase data traffic, facilitate data transfer, internet access, and cloud storage which has now become an integral part of increasingly digital society and digital nations.”
