Singaporean asset manager Keppel and Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico Group are discussing plans for new subsea cables to boost the region’s data center industry.

According to Reuters, which cites people familiar with the matter, one of the cables under discussion includes a direct Vietnam-Singapore cable, costing around $150 million.

However, Keppel is allegedly pushing for a more ambitious route involving a consortium of investors, and potentially including branches connecting to Japan and other countries.

No agreement has been reached yet. Keppel declined to comment to the publication.

The report added that under the preliminary plans, Chinese contractors will not be involved in the cable project. Sovico was briefed by US officials about the risks of choosing Chinese contractors such as HMN Technologies.

In a meeting last month with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, a Sovico executive mentioned plans for a new cable in collaboration with Keppel. Vietnam is currently planning to add ten new submarine cables by 2030. The Vietnamese government did not respond to requests for comment.

These projects are separate from the two previously announced by the Vietnamese government to connect Vietnam to existing international cables.

Vietnam is currently only connected to five subsea cables; the AAE-1, AAG, APG, and TGN-IA cables. The country experienced outages on three of the five cables earlier this year.

Last month, Keppel agreed to purchase an AI-ready data center facility in Japan.