Asia Link Cable (ALC)

Overview

The Asia Link Cable (ALC) is a regional submarine cable system spanning approximately 7,200 kilometres across Southeast and East Asia. It connects six countries — Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam — serving an intra-regional corridor that links some of the most densely populated and digitally active economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Route and Landings

In Brunei, the cable lands at Tungku. China hosts two landing points: Chung Hom Kok and Lingshui. Malaysia's landing station is located at Kuala Sedili. The Philippines is served by two landings, at Bauang and Luna. Singapore's landing point is at Changi, and Vietnam is connected via Danang.

Ownership and Operators

The Asia Link Cable is owned by a consortium of eight companies: China Telecom, China Unicom, DITO Telecommunity, FPT Telecom, Globe Telecom, Matrix NAP Info, Singtel, and TIME dotCom. The ownership reflects a broad cross-section of national carriers and regional telecom operators across the six countries served by the system. Singtel, headquartered in Singapore, is one of Asia's largest integrated communications groups, while Globe Telecom and DITO Telecommunity are among the leading telecommunications providers in the Philippines.

Status and Timeline

The Asia Link Cable is planned for service with a Ready for Service (RFS) year of 2027. The system is currently in development and has not yet entered commercial operation.

Regional Context

The Southeast and East Asian submarine cable corridor is one of the most active in the world, served by numerous long-haul and regional systems. The Asia Link Cable operates at a more focused geographic scale compared to several peers active in overlapping corridors. The Asia-America Gateway (AAG) Cable System, which also serves Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, entered service in 2009 and spans 20,000 kilometres. The Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) system, connecting China, Malaysia, and Vietnam, has been in service since 2017 across 25,000 kilometres. More recently, SeaMeWe-6, serving Malaysia and Singapore, reached service in 2026. At 7,200 kilometres, the ALC is considerably shorter than these intercontinental systems, positioning it as a regionally focused cable designed to serve connectivity within the Southeast and East Asian corridor specifically.

Strategic Role

By landing in six countries across the Southeast and East Asian corridor, the Asia Link Cable provides an additional layer of intra-regional connectivity among Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. With two landing points each in China and the Philippines, the system distributes traffic access across multiple coastal nodes rather than concentrating capacity at a single point per country. The participation of national carriers and regional operators from each served country reflects the shared interest in strengthening direct submarine links within this corridor ahead of the cable's anticipated 2027 service date.