INSICA: A Short Submarine Cable Linking Indonesia and Singapore
INSICA is a submarine telecommunications cable connecting
Tanjung Bemban in Indonesia to
Tuas in Singapore. With a total length of 100 kilometers, it is relatively short compared to many other international submarine cables. The cable is owned jointly by Singtel and Telin, two prominent operators in the Southeast Asian telecom industry. INSICA is listed as in service, with its ready-for-service (RFS) year recorded in the GeoCables database as 2026. However, no design capacity, fiber pair count, supplier, or specific technology details have been publicly disclosed.
What makes INSICA particularly interesting is its placement within a heavily trafficked corridor linking Indonesia and Singapore, a region critical for regional and global connectivity. The cable shares landing points with numerous other systems, which raises questions about its specific role and how it complements or competes with existing infrastructure. The absence of publicly disclosed technical specifications further adds an element of uncertainty about its operational capabilities.
Quick facts
| Name | INSICA |
| Length | 100 km |
| Ready-for-service year | 2026 (GeoCables database) |
| Owners | Singtel, Telin |
| Status | In service |
| Design capacity | Not disclosed |
| Fiber pairs | Not disclosed |
| Supplier | Not disclosed |
| Technology | Not disclosed |
| Landing points | Tanjung Bemban (Indonesia); Tuas (Singapore) |
Route
INSICA connects Tanjung Bemban, located on Batam Island in Indonesia, to Tuas in western Singapore. Batam Island is a key hub for submarine cable landings in Indonesia, while Tuas is one of Singapore's major cable landing stations, hosting a significant number of regional and transcontinental systems. The cable's 100-kilometer route traverses the Singapore Strait, a narrow and busy maritime corridor.
Why it was built and what it carries
Although specific details about INSICA's design capacity and technology are not publicly available, its construction likely addresses the growing demand for low-latency connectivity between Indonesia and Singapore. Singapore is a global telecommunications hub, and Batam Island is strategically located near Singapore, making it an ideal point for interconnection. INSICA may serve as a dedicated link for enterprise, data center, and cloud services, or as redundancy for other cables in the corridor.
The cable also fits into broader trends in the region, where operators are expanding infrastructure to accommodate increasing internet traffic, cloud computing, and digital services. Its role in the ecosystem may include enhancing network resilience and providing additional bandwidth to support these demands.
History: what can be established
INSICA's ready-for-service year is recorded as 2026 in the GeoCables database. However, no industry sources have been identified to corroborate or contradict this date. If the cable is already listed as in service, it raises the possibility that the GeoCables database entry may reflect a planned upgrade or expansion rather than its initial deployment. Alternatively, discrepancies could arise from varying definitions of "ready-for-service" across operators and reporting standards.
Capacity and technology
Publicly available information does not disclose INSICA's design capacity, fiber pair count, supplier, or technology. Without operator documentation, it is impossible to state these parameters with certainty. The lack of transparency may be due to the cable's relatively short length and regional focus, which might make detailed specifications less relevant to public discourse compared to larger transcontinental systems.
Latency: the physics
The theoretical one-way light propagation latency over INSICA's 100-kilometer wet segment is approximately 0.5 milliseconds, with a round-trip time (RTT) floor of about 1.0 milliseconds. However, real-world latency will be higher due to additional factors such as land-based network tails, terminal equipment processing, and routing delays. No live measurements are currently available for INSICA to verify its actual performance.
Redundancy: what happens if it breaks
INSICA's landing points at Tanjung Bemban and Tuas are served by numerous other submarine cables, providing substantial redundancy in the event of a fault. At Tanjung Bemban, alternative systems include
JAKABARE and
RISING 8, while Tuas hosts an extensive array of cables such as
Apricot,
Asia Direct Cable (ADC),
INDIGO-West, and
SEA-H2X, among others. These alternatives ensure that connectivity between Indonesia and Singapore can be maintained even if INSICA experiences downtime.
Repairing a cable in the Singapore Strait would follow standard industry practices, including deploying specialized cable ships to locate and fix the fault. Given the short length of INSICA, repair operations might be relatively swift compared to longer systems.
Bottom line
- INSICA is a 100-kilometer submarine cable linking Tanjung Bemban (Indonesia) and Tuas (Singapore).
- Owned by Singtel and Telin, it is listed as in service, with an RFS year recorded as 2026.
- Design capacity, fiber pairs, supplier, and technology details are not publicly disclosed.
- Theoretical round-trip latency over the wet segment is approximately 1.0 milliseconds.
- Redundancy is strong, with many alternative cables serving the same landing points.
- Public information about INSICA remains limited, leaving its specific role and capabilities somewhat unclear.