Subsea in Focus: What does increasingly rapid subsea cable development mean for the region?

As the demand for high-capacity, low-latency networks soars in the region, subsea cables remain pivotal in driving capacity usage. With major investments from hyperscalers and governments, the region is witnessing rapid development in subsea cable infrastructure, enabling 5G, AI, and cloud growth. This panel explores the evolving landscape of subsea cables, technological innovations, and the role of big tech in shaping the future of digital connectivity.  

• Closing the AI-Fibre Gap: How can the subsea industry adapt to the growing mismatch between 15–20-year fibre lifecycles and AI infrastructure that refreshes every 18–24 months? What are the risks of ignoring this silent bottleneck? 

• Accelerating critical builds: How are supply chain disruption, limited manufacturing capacity, and permitting delays impacting the timely deployment of new submarine cables — and what steps must be taken to accelerate build in Asia?  

• Government support: How policies and public-private partnerships are accelerating fibre expansion in the region.