BW Digital and Digital Realty plan new cable link between Singapore and Batam

A new partnership between Digital Realty and BW Digital aims to improve data flow between Singapore and Batam.

A new partnership between Digital Realty and BW Digital aims to improve how data moves between Singapore and Indonesia, with a focus on supporting the region's growing AI and cloud needs.

The two companies will work together on the rollout of BW Digital's Nongsa Changi Cable System (NCC), a submarine cable linking Batam and Singapore. They will also manage its connection to Digital Realty's SIN12 data center in Singapore.

The plan is set to widen access to major cloud and connectivity hubs across Southeast Asia. It may help enterprises that operate across the region move data with lower delays, strengthen storage and compute options, and support Singapore's rising demand for AI and digital services. SIN12's design for high-performance workloads adds another layer of support for organizations scaling between Singapore and Batam.

Growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure in Southeast Asia

With NCC landing inside SIN12, both companies aim to improve the speed and reliability of data exchange between the two markets. Batam has been drawing interest as a site for hyperscale and AI infrastructure, and the new cable is expected to add even more capacity.

NCC will be the first submarine system to land directly in Nongsa Digital Park. It is designed to deliver more than 1.6 petabits per second of new capacity and keep latency below 2 milliseconds between Batam and Singapore.

The collaboration links submarine cable landing facilities with Digital Realty's global data center platform, which may help support subsea connectivity, storage, interconnection, and AI/ML computing within SIN12.

BW Digital's customers may also gain more options to scale AI workloads by interconnecting directly in SIN12. They may benefit from cost savings by linking to other service providers already operating in the facility.

BW Digital's upcoming NDP-1 data center in Batam is also expected to support Digital Realty's customers who want access to colocation and cloud options within the Singapore–Johor–Riau (SIJORI) region, one of Southeast Asia's growing digital clusters.

The NDP-1 facility, which the company describes as an "AI Factory," is planned with 144 MW of capacity, liquid cooling, and direct on-ramps to BW Digital's subsea landing station for low-latency links to nearby markets.

Digital Realty's Head of Asia Pacific, Serene Nah, said subsea networks remain central to Southeast Asia's digital economy and that Singapore continues to serve as a major gateway for regional data exchange. She noted that bringing the Nongsa–Changi system into SIN12 is meant to help customers scale next-generation workloads by improving speed and resilience. "This collaboration reinforces our commitment to strengthening the interconnection foundation that powers the region's digital growth," she said.

BW Digital's Chief Business Officer, Virginie Frouin, shared that the partnership supports the company's goal of bridging the gap between submarine cable systems and land-based digital platforms in a more efficient and secure way. She said the work with Digital Realty is intended to "enable AI workloads, provide reliable, secure connectivity between Singapore and Batam," and help customers respond to rising demand for cross-border data exchange while gaining more flexibility in how they interconnect.