Optical & Fixed Networks

Construction begins on Asia’s Candle cable system

Construction begins on Asia’s Candle cable system

Indonesian service provider XLSmart has announced that it has begun construction work on the 8,000-kilometre Candle Cable System, a subsea cable linking Southeast Asia and Japan.

The subsea fibre optic network will connect Indonesia with Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. 

The project was launched in late 2025, as we reported at the time. Some big names are collaborating to develop the Candle submarine cable system.including founding members Meta, SoftBank, IPS Inc., TM Technology Services (part of Telekom Malaysia), NEC and, of course XLSmart. Philippines operator Globe joined the consortium in April this year as both investor and landing party.

According to NEC’s release at the time of the launch, this cable system will be one of the first in the Asia-Pacific region to use a 24-fibre pair cable, which will help to support the strong demand for communications in the region. NEC will provide the subsea transmission technology for the system.

The Telecom Review Asia news service explains that the be cable will land in Indonesia at Tanjung Bemban in Batam, providing an international connectivity point close to Singapore. It notes that Batam has also attracted investment in data centre and telecommunications infrastructure.

The new cable will add capacity to the growing network of subsea systems connecting Southeast Asia with major digital markets in East Asia. The additional route is expected to provide more options for international traffic as demand for cloud, data centre, and AI services grows.

XLSmart says the system is scheduled to be commercially ready in 2028.



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