MViSTA Cable Tender Links Four Southeast Asian Markets

Francesco Guarascio, Reuters via Baird Maritime
October 23, 2026

Developers of the MViSTA undersea data cable have moved the project into active supplier selection for a system linking Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. A project executive told Reuters that NEC and Alcatel Submarine Networks are the remaining candidates, with a decision expected later in October 2026. That makes the tender a concrete procurement milestone, but not a contract award. The project's stated service target remains late 2028.

The proposed design covers approximately 2,500 kilometers and 16 fiber pairs, with an estimated project cost of about US$400 million. Vietnam's Stavian, Tokyo-based Midas Capital and LitUp Network are identified as shareholders. LitUp Network, an OMS Group subsidiary, is expected to install the cable. Those details place MViSTA beyond an early route concept by identifying its planned scale, investment level, ownership group and installation responsibility, even though the supplier contract has not yet been awarded.

MViSTA would give the four participating Southeast Asian markets another direct regional connection. The development is particularly relevant to Vietnam, which plans to increase its international submarine cable connections from six to at least 15 by 2030. The project executive also said Vietnam had accelerated approval procedures. Procurement and route choices carry an additional strategic dimension: Chinese suppliers were excluded from the tender, and the planned path avoids waters claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea. Those decisions are confirmed project parameters, not evidence of an operational security event.

The current status is therefore an open supply tender with a short list of two companies. The reporting does not announce a winner, a construction start, individual fiber-pair capacity or a confirmed ready-for-service date. The next stated milestone is the supplier decision expected later in October. After that decision, the late-2028 service goal will remain the project's principal public schedule marker. Until a contract award is announced, MViSTA should be viewed as an advancing regional cable project whose technical scope and ownership are defined, while its main system supplier is still unresolved.

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