Improving Indo-Pacific Cable Security and Resilience: Investment, Licensing, and Repair

Abstract

The Indo-Pacific region is an important zone for undersea cables across investments, development, maintenance, and technological innovation. Through case studies of Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and India, this article examines the actors who are investing in regional cable infrastructure, how Indo-Pacific countries are approaching security issues in cable licensing, and whether actors are investing resources or developing specific policies around cable repairs. It finds that, across these four countries, many types of actors are involved in cable investment, including telecommunications firms, investment banks, and internet companies. However, there is considerable variation in how these countries are addressing security and repair issues. The article concludes by recommending that Indo-Pacific countries remember to balance investment screening and security issues with international collaboration on cables, improve cable outage and repair tracking, consider government-led or government-subsidized cable repair ship programs, and integrate security and resilience assessments into licensing processes.