Jambi-Batam Cable System (JIBA)

Overview

The Jambi-Batam Cable System, known as JIBA, is a domestic submarine cable system connecting two landing points within Indonesia. Spanning 267 kilometres, the cable serves an intra-Indonesian corridor, linking Sumatra's eastern coastal region across the waters separating the Jambi province area from the Riau Islands. The system is jointly owned by three Indonesian telecommunications operators: Indosat Ooredoo, Moratelindo, and XLSmart.

Route and Landings

Both landing points on the JIBA cable are located within Indonesia. The cable lands at Kuala Tungkal, a coastal town on the eastern shore of Sumatra, and at Tanjung Pinggir, located on Batam Island in the Riau Islands province. The two landings are separated by approximately 267 kilometres of submarine cable across the Strait of Malacca and surrounding waters.

Ownership and Operators

JIBA is owned jointly by Indosat Ooredoo, Moratelindo, and XLSmart. Indosat Ooredoo is one of Indonesia's largest telecommunications providers, operating under the Ooredoo Group's regional network. Moratelindo and XLSmart are Indonesian carriers with operations spanning fixed and mobile connectivity within the archipelago.

Status and Timeline

The JIBA cable became ready for service in 2014 and has been operational for approximately 12 years. No end-of-service date has been announced.

Regional Context

Indonesia's submarine cable infrastructure encompasses 40 cables landing across 97 points, reflecting the country's geographic complexity as an archipelago of thousands of islands. JIBA, at 267 kilometres, sits at the shorter end of Indonesia's cable lengths — longer than 22% of other cables serving the same country, with the national average reaching approximately 2,591 kilometres.

Several cables with Indonesian landings are considerably larger in scale, including Bifrost and Echo (both with ready-for-service dates in 2025), Apricot (also 2025), Hawaiki Nui 1 (planned for 2027), Asia United Gateway East (planned for 2029), and Asia Connect Cable-1 (planned for 2028). These systems range from roughly 8,900 to nearly 20,000 kilometres in length and serve international or trans-oceanic routes. JIBA, by contrast, is purpose-built for domestic inter-island connectivity at a regional scale.

Strategic Role

JIBA provides a direct submarine link between Sumatra and Batam Island, two economically significant areas within Indonesia's western archipelago. Batam, as a free-trade zone and industrial hub close to Singapore, and Kuala Tungkal, as a Sumatran coastal point, form a corridor that benefits from dedicated undersea cable capacity. The cable's ownership by three separate Indonesian operators reflects a shared approach to inter-island connectivity in a geography where terrestrial infrastructure is inherently limited by water crossings.