Keppel inks further Bifrost deal with Telstra, in ‘advanced’ talks with more customers

[SINGAPORE] Asset manager Keppel on Friday (May 15) announced a definitive 25-year deal with the global arm of Australian telco Telstra for a fibre pair on the Bifrost Cable System.

Spanning over 20,000 km, Bifrost is the world’s first subsea cable system linking Singapore directly to the US West Coast, via the Java and Celebes seas. It supports artificial intelligence workloads and cloud-native platforms, with commercial traffic having started in December 2025.

Keppel and Telstra International inked a binding term sheet in January, though the telco was not named at the time.

Three of the five fibre pairs in Bifrost are now committed to customers. Keppel is in “advanced discussions” with potential customers on the remaining two fibre pairs, with contracts targeted to be signed in the first half of this year.

The Telstra deal involves an indefeasible right of use (IRU) agreement, which is a long-term, irrevocable contract in telecommunications that grants exclusive and secure access to a portion of network capacity.

Finalising the IRU agreement “reflects the growing traction of Bifrost amid growing demand for high-quality digital connectivity infrastructure globally”, said Manjot Singh Mann, chief executive officer of Keppel’s connectivity business.

Roary Stasko, Telstra International’s CEO, noted that the Singapore-US route is “one of the world’s most important digital corridors, connecting fast-growing Asian markets to global cloud and content hubs”.

Bifrost has branching units extending connectivity to Jakarta and Manado in Indonesia, Davao in the Philippines, and Winema, Oregon in the US.

Keppel’s investment in the Bifrost fibre pairs is held through a 40-60 joint venture with its private fund co-investors.

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Keppel secures 25-year fibre pair deal on Bifrost Cable System with global telco

Its shares ended Friday at S$10.60, down by S$0.10 or 0.9 per cent.