What’s at stake for Southeast Asia?
Undersea cables have become increasingly valuable – and vulnerable – for countries in Southeast Asia, said Ms Elina Noor, a senior fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank.
She wrote in a research paper that by virtue of its geographical location, Southeast Asia is a key node in the web of undersea cables around the world, and acts as a communications gateway to North America and Africa.
By 2025, an estimated 10 major cable projects in and around Southeast Asia are due to come online to meet growing bandwidth demand.
Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore have been ramping up efforts to boost their subsea cable capabilities.
Malaysia currently has 29 submarine cable networks, including those under construction, and six cable landing stations. By next year, it aims to have the most cables landing in Southeast Asia, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
Earlier this year, Vietnam also unveiled a plan to construct at least 10 new undersea cable routes by 2030, bringing its total to 15.
As of 2023, Singapore had 26 subsea cables landed across three sites, with plans underway to double the number of sites and add more cables.
What are challenges faced by Singapore?
An RSIS policy report published in May noted that Singapore was “geographically disadvantaged” in efforts to protect its cables, by virtue of it being unable to claim the full suite of maritime zones afforded to it under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea due to proximity with neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia.
Another significant risk to cables serving Singapore is from damage that occurs in spaces under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of other states, said the paper, which counts Ms Hemrajani among its four expert authors.
The report recommended that Singapore designate cables and landing stations as critical information infrastructure (CII), and for companies operating these to be designated as CII service providers.
They would then need to notify authorities of any break in service due to deliberate vandalism, acts of war or accidental damage.
Other suggestions included improving cooperation between agencies, as well as partnerships through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN.
“Effective protection of subsea cables requires both regional and international cooperation, and cannot be done by Singapore alone,” the experts wrote.
