Echo Cable's Golden Bouy Has Landed in Tanjung Pakis

By IndoTelko.com
June 24, 2022

After several months of undersea construction and deployment, the Echo Submarine Cable Communication System (SKKL) finally docked at Tanjung Pakis, Karawang Regency, West Java. The “Golden Buoy” arrived at Tanjung Pakis, on Wednesday morning (22/6), towed ashore to then be connected to the network owned by PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata).

Also welcoming the arrival of Golden Buoy were the Director & Chief Technology Officer of XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa and Representatives of NEC Indonesia.

For XL Axiata, the anchoring of the Golden Buoy is part of XL Axiata's commitment to continue to provide better network quality and services for Indonesian customers and people with the addition and availability of fiber optic network infrastructure that connects to the global network. This is also in line with XL Axiata's efforts to realize the vision of becoming the leading converged operator (#1 converged operator) in Indonesia, including to support the provision of the fastest internet service for customers and the public “XL Axiata is for Indonesia”.

XL Axiata Director & Chief Technology Officer, I Gede Darmayusa said, “The arrival of Golden Buoy in Tanjung Pakis is part of a very long series of developments for the SKKL Echo project, in which fiber optic cables are pulled from California, United States, across the Pacific Ocean, directly to here, and later on to Singapore. After arriving in Indonesia, the SKKL Echo will be connected to XL Axiata's network system which we can then use to improve the quality of internet connection for Indonesian customers and people.”

SKKL Echo was built jointly by Meta, Google, and XL Axiata. Construction of this project has started since 2021 and is planned to be completed in 2023. The handover of the SKKL Echo “Golden Buoy” in Tanjung Pakis marks the start of the installation of the SKKL Echo in Indonesia for a length of no less than 4,000 km, out of a total length of 15,000 km. Tanjung Pakis Beach was chosen as the landing point in Indonesia towards Singapore and California, USA.

XL Axiata hopes that this project will be completed and will be able to start operating in Q3 2023. According to Gede, his party is looking forward to the benefits of this SKKL Echo to improve the quality of internet services. The existence of this SKKL will also add internet connection to the global network, and will strengthen the connection through SKKL-SKKL that XL Axiata already has.

“For XL Axiata, the existence of SKKL Echo will provide an alternative internet and data access with large capacity abroad, which in turn will be able to improve the quality of internet access for all customers, including corporate and government circles. In addition, the SKKL, which directly connects Indonesia with North America, will provide direct benefits for internet access because the community's need for fast and stable internet access also continues to increase. In addition, we also hope that the existence of this SKKL will contribute to the growth of the digital economy for the wider community to remote areas and Eastern Indonesia,” said Gede.

Currently, XL Axiata already has a number of SKKLs that support internet access services to the global network. These SKKLs include SKKL Batam – Sarawak which started operating in early June 2022, SKKL Australia – Indonesia – Singapore which operated in October 2018.

To date, the XL Axiata network is spread across 34 provinces. Some of the networks have penetrated and served people in remote areas and are located on national borders. A total of more than 133 thousand BTS, of which 83 thousand 4G BTS, and a fiber optic network of more than 113,000 kilometers, support the strength of XL Axiata's network, to serve around 57 million customers in various regions in Indonesia. (tep)

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