Changi, Singapore

Changi, Singapore: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Changi is a planning area situated in the East Region of Singapore, bordering Changi Bay to the southeast and the South China Sea to the east. Its eastern coastal position makes it a natural site for submarine cable infrastructure, with cables arriving from and departing toward the broader Asia-Pacific region. Six submarine cables land at Changi, all of which are currently in draft or under development, with ready-for-service dates ranging from 2026 to 2029.

The cables landing at Changi connect Singapore to a wide array of Asia-Pacific nations, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Thailand. Among the most expansive systems are Hawaiki Nui 1, spanning 10,000 km and reaching as far as Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, and Asia United Gateway East (AUG East), an 8,900 km system connecting to Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. Together, these cables position Changi as a landing point supporting both intercontinental links toward the Pacific and dense intra-regional connectivity across Southeast and Northeast Asia.

Cables Landing at Changi, Singapore

Hawaiki Nui 1 is a draft submarine cable system measuring 10,000 km in length, with a scheduled ready-for-service date of 2027. In addition to Singapore, it connects Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste, forming a broad corridor between Southeast Asia and the southwestern Pacific.

Asia United Gateway East (AUG East) spans 8,900 km and is scheduled for RFS in 2029. The system links Singapore with Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea, creating a multi-country corridor spanning Southeast and Northeast Asia.

I-AM Cable covers 8,100 km and is also scheduled for RFS in 2029. It connects Singapore with Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea, providing a focused Northeast Asian corridor alongside AUG East.

Asia Link Cable (ALC) is a 7,200 km draft system with an anticipated RFS of 2027. Its route connects Singapore with Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, linking the South China Sea corridor and extending northward to mainland China.

Nongsa-Changi is the shortest system landing at this location, measuring just 50 km, with a draft RFS of 2026. It connects Singapore directly to Indonesia, serving as a short cross-strait link between the two neighboring countries.

Vietnam-Singapore Cable System (VTS) is a draft cable with an anticipated RFS of 2027. It connects Singapore with Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, forming a corridor along the western rim of the South China Sea through mainland Southeast Asia.

Regional Context

Across Singapore's eight submarine cable landing points, 44 cables make landfall in total. Changi, with six cables, ranks in the upper tier of Singapore landing points by cable count. It sits below the highest-volume nodes — Tuas with 16 cables and Changi North with 11 — but hosts more cable systems than Changi South (5 cables), Tanah Merah (4 cables), Katong (1 cable), and Sakra Island (1 cable).

Network Role

Changi functions as a multi-cable landing point within Singapore's eastern coastline, hosting six systems that collectively span destinations from Australia and the Pacific Islands to Northeast Asia and mainland Southeast Asia. The cable mix includes both long-haul intercontinental systems, such as Hawaiki Nui 1 extending into the southwestern Pacific, and shorter regional links such as the Nongsa-Changi cross-strait connection to Indonesia. The geographic spread of endpoints — across fourteen countries — reflects the breadth of the corridor that this landing point supports.

While all six cables currently carry draft status and will come into service between 2026 and 2029, their combined footprint points to Changi's growing role as a secondary node within Singapore's eastern submarine cable geography. Within Singapore's broader network of eight landing points, Changi contributes meaningfully to the diversity of routes and country pairs accessible from the island, reinforcing the multi-hub structure that characterizes Singapore's position in the regional submarine cable graph.