Meta Introduces Candle, Asia Pacific's Largest Underwater Cable To Pass Indonesia

JAKARTA Meta introduces Candle, the new submarine cable with the largest capacity in Asia Pacific. This cable will connect Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore.

The candlestick is expected to operate in 2028. This cable will be about 8,000 kilometers long and is designed to provide a capacity of up to 570 Terabits per second (Tbps).

Through this project, Meta Wants to strengthen digital connectivity for hundreds of millions of people and businesses in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. This plan needs to be supported by the latest technology according to Meta.

"The candlestick will utilize the newly developed 24 pairs of fiber cable technology," Meta said in a statement, quoted on Tuesday, October 7. Meta also explained that the bandwidth produced by Candek would be equivalent to the Anjana project.

Apart from the Candle, Meta also provided a significant update on other submarine cable projects. They announced that the Bifrost cable connecting Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and the United States had been completed.

The Bifrost cable itself is designed to add more than 260 Tbps redundancy to the popular Transpatific digital route. The cable takes a different path from previous Transparacific systems, with the expansion to Mexico which is also expected to be completed by 2026.

The company also provided updates to the Apricot cable project. The submarine cables available in Japan, Taiwan, and Guam will be expanded to a 12,000-kilometer system.

The 290 Tbps capacity cable will be expanded to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore to complement the Bifrost and Echo networks. That way, network connectivity in Southeast Asia and its surroundings will strengthen.

"Meta (committed) ... to support Indonesia's digital economy growth and ensure that people can enjoy the latest Meta, AI, and technology services with reliable and fast connections," explains Meta.