Asia United Gateway East (AUG East): A planned submarine cable connecting East Asia
The Asia United Gateway East (AUG East) is an upcoming submarine cable system designed to connect multiple countries across East and Southeast Asia. Spanning a planned length of approximately 8,900 kilometers, the cable is set to link key landing points in Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Japan. It is currently in the planning stage, with its ready-for-service (RFS) date recorded as 2029 in GeoCables data.
One notable aspect of AUG East is its consortium ownership, which includes major global and regional telecom operators and technology companies such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Singtel, Chunghwa Telecom, Telekom Malaysia, and others. While details about its design capacity, fiber pairs, and suppliers have not been publicly disclosed, the cable is expected to play a significant role in supporting regional connectivity and data traffic growth in the future.
Quick facts
| Name | Asia United Gateway East (AUG East) |
| Length | 8,900 km |
| Ready-for-Service (RFS) | 2029 (GeoCables database) |
| Owners | Amazon Web Services, Arteria, Chunghwa Telecom, Dreamline, Globe Telecom, Microsoft, Singtel, Telekom Malaysia, Unified National Networks (UNN) |
| Status | Planned - Not yet in operation |
| Design Capacity | Not disclosed |
| Fiber Pairs | Not disclosed |
| Supplier | Not disclosed |
Route
The AUG East cable will connect nine landing points across East and Southeast Asia, providing enhanced connectivity between major economic hubs in the region. Its landing sites include:
These locations represent critical nodes in the region's telecommunications infrastructure, connecting densely populated areas and major economic centers. The cable’s corridor overlaps with other existing and planned submarine cables, such as
Apricot,
Asia Link Cable (ALC), and FLAG North Asia Loop, among others.
Why it was built and what it carries
The AUG East cable is being developed to address the growing demand for international bandwidth and reliable connectivity in East Asia. As data consumption and cloud services continue to expand, the cable will provide additional capacity to support these needs. It is expected to facilitate faster connections for businesses, bolster cloud computing services, and improve internet access for millions of users in the region.
Given its consortium ownership, AUG East is likely to serve diverse functions, including interconnection of data centers, support for enterprise applications, and improved access to cloud platforms operated by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.
History: what can be established
GeoCables data records the planned ready-for-service date for AUG East as 2029. No conflicting dates have been identified in publicly available industry sources, but it is worth noting that submarine cable projects are often subject to delays due to logistical, regulatory, or environmental challenges. Until further updates are provided by the consortium, the 2029 RFS date remains the most reliable estimate.
Capacity and technology
Details about the design capacity, fiber pairs, and supplier of AUG East have not been disclosed in public sources. Without operator documentation, it is impossible to state these specifications definitively. However, given the involvement of major technology companies and telecom operators, it is reasonable to expect that the cable will employ advanced optical transmission technologies to maximize capacity and efficiency.
Latency: the physics
Theoretical calculations for light propagation over the 8,900 km wet segment of AUG East yield a one-way latency floor of approximately 43.6 milliseconds, with a round-trip time (RTT) floor of 87.3 milliseconds. Real-world latency will be higher due to additional factors such as land tails, terminal equipment, and routing inefficiencies.
GeoCables live measurements, which reflect the full internet path rather than the cable itself, show several latency artifacts below the physical floor. For example, a minimum RTT of 6.0 ms between Wada and Batam is clearly an artifact caused by rate-limited ICMP replies from intermediate routers. Such values should not be interpreted as representative of the cable’s performance.
Redundancy: what happens if it breaks
The AUG East cable will operate in a region with significant redundancy from other submarine cables. For instance, Batam hosts multiple systems, including Apricot,
Matrix Cable System, and Indonesia Global Gateway. Similarly, Changi is connected by Asia Link Cable and Vietnam-Singapore Cable System. These alternatives reduce the risk of prolonged outages in the event of a cable fault. Standard industry practices for submarine cable repair, such as deploying specialized cable repair ships, will also apply to AUG East.
Bottom line
- AUG East is a planned submarine cable connecting nine landing points in East and Southeast Asia.
- The cable is expected to be ready for service in 2029, according to GeoCables data.
- Ownership is shared among major telecom operators and technology companies, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.
- Details about design capacity, fiber pairs, and supplier have not been disclosed.
- Theoretical latency calculations suggest a one-way floor of 43.6 ms over the wet segment, but real-world latency will be higher.
- Redundancy is provided by numerous other cables in the region, minimizing the impact of potential faults.