As it looks to be better prepared to develop a fibre-to-the home network and expand its connectivity support to more islands in its domestic territory across Indonesia, ION Network (PT Parsaoran Global Datatrans) has deployed new optical comms technology from Ciena on its newest submarine cable, ION Cable System 1 (ICS1).
Part of PT Parsaoran Global Datatrans, ION Network operates in the multimedia field based on IP Base and internet networks. The company said the rapid growth in IT and multimedia has made the internet very important in telecoms and other industries and that it realises the central part of networks in business and industry.
Specifically, the operator believes that having an integrated internet network will ensure its business runs smoothly with a “seamless” user experience.
Spanning more than 2,000km from Jakarta to Singapore across submarine and protected Sumatra terrestrial routes, ICS1 is fundamentally intended to boost network reliability and strengthen high-bandwidth connectivity for more than 250,000 homes across Bali, Java and Sumatra.
On a deeper technological basis, ICS1 will deliver wavelength services of up to 1.2Tb-s and up to 24Tbps of end-to-end capacity. supporting connectivity for more than 250,000 homes across the key regions of Indonesia.
It will run on Ciena’s 6500 platform powered by WL6e coherent optics and the upgrade will increase total capacity to 288 Tbps across six cable segments using two fibre pairs. The ICS1 will also make use of Ciena’s advanced Layer 0 (L0) control plane capabilities to ensure high service availability and operational efficiency.
ICS1 is set to be live at the end of 2026, and the deployment of Ciena’s optical innovations is in collaboration with PT Lancs Arche Consumma (LANCS). The transmission routes, totalling around 2,000km across both underwater and land cables, are the foundation of ION Network’s backbone connectivity.
“ION Network is committed to accelerating digitalisation in Indonesia, and ICS1 will help drive this vision with the help of Ciena’s market-leading optical technology,” said Daniel Simanjuntak, chief technology officer of ION Network. “With a new transmission network in place, we will be better prepared to develop our fibre-to-the-home network and expand our connectivity support to more islands in Indonesia.”
Alex Wong, regional managing director for ASEAN at Ciena, added: “ION Network has established a reputation as a trusted source of high-quality, reliable and secure internet connectivity. With … proven optical technology underpinning the new ICS1, ION Network is well-positioned to address the projected bandwidth demand driven by artificial intelligence and cloud applications.”
ION Network already uses Ciena’s optical technology to support the delivery of high-capacity services on its B3JS (Jakarta-Bangka-Bintan-Batam-Singapore) and BDMCS (Batam-Dumai-Medan) cable systems.
The ICS1 news comes hot on the heels of Matrix Networks and PT NAP Info Lintas Nusa – collectively Matrix NAP Info – activating Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme coherent optical network technology to enhance submarine network connectivity between the Batam and Jakarta segment of the Matrix Cable System (MCS).
MCS spans 1,055km from Singapore to Jakarta, with one active branch in Batam. It is designed to provide high-grade bandwidth connectivity between major datacentres and internet exchanges in Singapore and Jakarta. Between the two cities, the line has 6.2Tbps lit capacity and 32Tbps maximum design capacity. Two additional branching units have been installed to enable extension of the network to Perth, Australia, and to other existing cable or south-east Asian destinations.
