Telkom Indonesia has launched a new cross-border subsea cable linking the Indonesian province of Papua and Papua New Guinea.

The telco also launched a new satellite gateway site in Papua.

Telkom & PNG DataCo launch Puk-Puk 1

The telco, through Telin, this month officially inaugurated the Pukpuk Submarine Cable System (Puk-Puk 1) at Telkom Witel Jayapura, Papua.

The cable runs across the border to land in Vanimo in Papua New Guinea. Both are located on the island of New Guinea.

The system was launched in partnership with Papua New Guinea state-owned telco, PNG DataCo.

"Puk-Puk1 is more than just a cable. It is a bridge between nations, a platform for economic opportunity, and a foundation for digital transformation," he said. He further noted that the geographical proximity between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea should naturally be strengthened through reliable digital connectivity, and the collaboration with Telin stands as a clear manifestation of that shared vision.

First announced in 2019, the system was originally set to be live the same year.

President Director of Telkom Indonesia, Dian Siswarini, added: "Through Pukpuk, TelkomGroup is not only strengthening Papua's digital infrastructure, but also reaffirming that Eastern Indonesia is an integral part of the global connectivity ecosystem. We want to ensure that no region is left behind in the digital era. We hope this initiative will strengthen connectivity in Eastern Indonesia while opening broader opportunities for regional and global digital collaboration.”

Telin was founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, one of Indonesia’s main telco providers. The company operates, or has capacity in, a number of domestic and international subsea cables across the country, including ICE, Bifrost, Topaz, SJC2, Peace, and others.

The Indonesian half of New Guinea was previously only connected to other islands within Indonesia, with no international subsea cables landing there.

As well as the domestic Kumul cable system, Papua New Guinea is also the landing point for the Coral Sea Cable System (CS²) and PIPE Pacific Cable-1 (PPC-1) cable systems, linking the island to Australia, the Solomon Islands, and Guam.

The country is set to host the Hawaiki Nui 1 cable that will link Australia to Singapore via Indonesia. Google is set to land several new systems on the island.

Kacific and SES provide satellite services to Papua New Guinea through Tiekom, Digicel, and Vodafone PNG.

Telkom Indonesia launches satellite gateway in Papua

This month also saw Telkom Indonesia launch a satellite Community Gateway at the Wamena Medium Earth Station, Jayawijaya Regency, Papua.

The telco said the Wamena Community Gateway was built as the main link or main backbone of connectivity in the Papua Highlands region.

Currently, network transport capacity in Wamena is around 7Gbps, with a high utilization rate. Through the Wamena Community Gateway, this capacity can be gradually increased to a maximum potential of 40Gbps, the company said.

Capacity at the gateway can be used by TelkomGroup as well as various operators, local ISPs, and other institutions.

The Wamena Community Gateway is the second facility built by TelkomGroup through Telkomsat, following the Merauke Community Gateway on the south side of the island.

Located in Western New Guinea and inaugurated in December 2025 as the first satellite gateway in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, the Merauke facility was built as a backup link to ensure service continuity during terrestrial network disruptions.

Both locations appear to be relying on Starlink’s Community Gateway offering.

While Starlink can offer services directly to consumers through small antennas, Starlink community gateways offer Internet transit to other Internet Service Providers, providing “fiber-like speeds” to communities.

The satellite firm says the service, which requires larger radome-clad antennae compared to the smaller consumer flat panels, offers speeds of up to 10Gbps up and down. Prices for the gateways start at $75,000/Gbps per month with a one-time upfront cost of $1.25 million.

Starlink first deployed a community gateway to the island of Unalaska, Alaska, for local provider OptimERA xG.

Broadband Systems Corporation of Rwanda, Kativik Regional Government of northern Canada, Tuvalu Telecom, Nauru’s Telikom (aka Neotel), Kiribati’s BNL, FSM Telecom in Micronesia, and Corporación de Telecomunicaciones (CNT) in Ecuador have also deployed Starlink community gateways.