Telkom Eyes Africa, Latin America Subsea Expansion

Julian Isaac, Indonesia Business Post
August 27, 2026

Telkom’s international subsidiary, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Internasional, or Telin, has identified Africa and Latin America as prospective additions to its subsea cable corridor strategy, according to Indonesia Business Post. The company currently operates across intra-Asia routes, trans-Pacific links between Asia and the United States, and Asia-Europe connectivity.

Telin CEO Abdul Rahman Ansyori said investment would remain under Telkom Group’s direction and be handled prudently. Rather than immediately building infrastructure in each new market, Telin plans to test demand through capacity-resale arrangements. If demand is established and available capacity becomes increasingly used, the company would then consider investing in its own infrastructure.

The expansion outlook is tied partly to rising bandwidth needs from artificial intelligence. Ansyori said connectivity requirements for compute-to-compute AI applications could reach up to 10 times previous levels. The report cited Bifrost, which connects Singapore and the United States through Indonesian waters, as an example of strong demand, saying the system took about five years to build and had its capacity fully absorbed less than a year after completion.

Telin also plans to move from a country-by-country approach toward a corridor-based strategy aimed at securing strategic landing points and supporting end-to-end connectivity across multiple markets. Regulatory considerations, including data protection, network security, local workforce rules, licensing, and local network operations, are expected to remain part of expansion planning.

Separately, Telkom Group is pursuing Indonesia Cable Express, a strategic program comprising 14 submarine cable projects intended to connect Indonesia with Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and Australia.

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