Sarawak's internet traffic leaves the state through a small number of submarine fibre-optic cables. Federal answers in Parliament name four:two domestic cables running from Mersing in Johor to Sarawak, the Batam Sarawak Internet Cable System (BaSICS) to Singapore via Indonesia, and the newer SEA-H2X system, according to answers given in the Dewan Negara in December 2024. A fifth, the RM2 billion SALAM cable, was funded in the 2026 Budget and has not yet been built.

These cables matter because almost every plan for Sarawak's digital economy, from data centres to the AI projects announced around Kuching, assumes there is enough capacity, and enough separate routes, to move data in and out of Borneo.

Which cables already connect Sarawak?

The federal government's account of the network has been given in parliamentary answers. In March 2022 the then Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, told the Dewan Negara that Malaysia was linked to 17 submarine cable services, and that four of them were in the core category connecting Sabah and Sarawak to the outside world, Bernama reported. In December 2024 the Deputy Communications Minister, Teo Nie Ching, set out the systems serving Sarawak in more detail, in answer to Senator Robert Lau Hui Yew, according to Bernama.

From those two answers, the cables in service are:

  • Sistem Kabel Rakyat Malaysia (SKRM), operated by Telekom Malaysia, linking Mersing to Kuching, Bintulu and Miri.
  • The East-West cable system, implemented by Sacofa Sdn Bhd, linking Mersing to Kuching, with a capacity of 600Gbps.
  • BaSICS, built by the Kuching-based company irix, linking Sarawak to Singapore via Batam in Indonesia.

The two answers give different figures for SKRM. The 2022 answer put its current capacity at 7.4 terabits per second; the 2024 answer described an average current capacity of 9.5Tbps. Neither statement explains the difference, which may reflect an upgrade or a different way of measuring.

What BaSICS added, and why it was different

SKRM and East-West both run to the Malaysian peninsula. BaSICS was the first to give Sarawak its own international route. The Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication described it as Sarawak's first 700km submarine cable system when it was launched at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching on 6 September 2022 by the minister, Datuk Julaihi Narawi.

According to the ministry's account of the launch:

  • The cable connects Sarawak to Singapore, the regional telecommunications hub, by way of Batam.
  • It has six fibre pairs, each carrying 80 wavelengths of 100Gbps, for a total system capacity of 48Tbps.
  • It was launched together with a Tier IV data centre at Santubong, which the ministry said was the first facility in Malaysia certified at that level by the Uptime Institute.

At the launch, Julaihi said the two projects would support the Sarawak Rural Broadband Network (Saluran-MySRBN) and the national Jendela programme, and linked them to the state's Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, the ministry reported.

What SEA-H2X is

SEA-H2X is the SouthEast Asia Hainan-Hong Kong Express Cable System. Teo described it in December 2024 as a 160Tbps undersea fibre-optic network provided by Irix Sdn Bhd, formerly PP Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, the same company behind BaSICS. At that time she said it was expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.

Teo said the route falls under the core network category and links Sarawak with Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. She added that existing capacity was sufficient to meet future demand. We have not found an official statement since then confirming the date the system entered service, so its completion date should be treated as unconfirmed.

What SALAM will replace

The largest planned project is the MADANI Submarine Cable Connection, known as SALAM. The 2026 Budget, tabled in October 2025, allocated RM2 billion for it through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Ministry of Communications said.

  • Length: 3,190km, built by MCMC.
  • Route: Sedili in Johor to Kuching and Sibu, then on to Tuaran, Kudat, Pulau Banggi, Sandakan and Tawau in Sabah.
  • Purpose: to relieve the 1Malaysia People's Cable System, which Teo said in October 2025 had been in operation for many years and was reaching the limits of its capacity, Bernama reported.

In June 2026 the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, said a submarine cable project linking Sarawak and Johor was still waiting for Indonesian approval before a seabed survey could fix its route, because about 60 to 70 per cent of the proposed route passes through Indonesian waters. His remarks as reported did not name the project, so it should not be assumed to be SALAM.

Why the Singapore power cable is a separate project

Sarawak is also planning an undersea cable to Singapore that carries electricity, not data, and the two are easily confused. The federal cabinet approved the power interconnection on 15 February 2024. Julaihi told the state assembly that it would carry up to 1,000MW, cross Indonesia's Muri-Midai corridor over 720km, be underwritten by Singapore and was expected to begin commercial operation in 2031, the ministry reported in May 2024. In February 2025 the Premier, Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, said the construction method was still under discussion, noting that only three such undersea cables exist worldwide.

That project belongs to Sarawak Energy's export plans. It does not add internet capacity.

Sources