Keppel signed a definitive 25-year Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) agreement with Telstra International covering a fibre pair on the Bifrost Cable System. The agreement follows a binding term sheet signed between the companies in January 2026 and expands Telstra International’s long-term capacity position on one of the newest trans-Pacific subsea routes supporting AI and cloud traffic growth.
Bifrost spans more than 20,000 km (12,427 miles) and is positioned as the first subsea cable system directly linking Singapore to the west coast of the United States through the Java Sea and Celebes Sea. The system lands in Singapore, Guam, and Grover Beach, California, with branch connections to Jakarta and Manado in Indonesia, Davao in the Philippines, and Winema, Oregon. Keppel said the system adds more than 240 Tbps of new Pacific capacity and delivers round-trip latency of under 165 milliseconds between Singapore and the U.S., approximately 10 milliseconds lower than existing routes. Commercial traffic on Bifrost commenced in December 2025.
Keppel said the Bifrost investment is structured through a 40-60 joint venture with private fund co-investors, including the Keppel Infrastructure Fund. Keppel will operate and maintain the venture’s five fibre pairs for 25 years, generating long-term recurring revenue. Three fibre pairs have already been committed to customers, while negotiations continue for the remaining two pairs. The company is also developing a broader pipeline of subsea connectivity projects as hyperscalers, cloud providers, AI platform operators, and enterprises seek geographically diverse and lower-latency network paths across the Pacific.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| System Name | Bifrost Cable System |
| Primary Route | Singapore to U.S. West Coast via Indonesia |
| Length | Over 20,000 km (12,427 miles) |
| Main Landing Points | Singapore, Guam, Grover Beach (California) |
| Branch Landings | Jakarta, Manado, Davao, Winema |
| Capacity | More than 240 Tbps |
| Latency | Under 165 ms Singapore-U.S. RTT |
| Commercial Service | Started December 2025 |
| Ownership Structure | 40-60 JV between Keppel and private fund co-investors |
| Customer Agreement | 25-year IRU signed with Telstra International |
Keppel is a Singapore-based global asset manager and infrastructure operator with businesses spanning connectivity, energy transition, urban infrastructure, and real estate. The company has increasingly expanded into digital infrastructure, including data centers and subsea cable investments, as demand rises for AI-ready connectivity and resilient cloud networking routes across Asia-Pacific and trans-Pacific corridors.
“Demand for high-performance, resilient connectivity has never been stronger, driven by the rapid growth of digital services, accelerating AI-led compute and data demand, and rising expectations for speed and simplicity,” said Roary Stasko, CEO of Telstra International.
🌐 Analysis: The Bifrost project reflects intensifying competition to build new trans-Pacific subsea routes optimized for AI-era traffic patterns and hyperscale cloud growth. Operators increasingly seek geographically diverse cable paths to reduce concentration risk around traditional Pacific routes while improving latency and resiliency for AI training clusters, cloud platforms, and distributed inference workloads. Keppel’s move also aligns with a broader trend of infrastructure and private equity-backed firms expanding aggressively into digital infrastructure assets alongside traditional telecom operators.
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