APAC telecommunications firm Inligo Networks has announced it has commenced construction of its open cable landing station (CLS) in Darwin, Australia.

Located in Fannie Bay, the company first acquired the land in June with the assistance of the Northern Territory Government.

The CLS will be the landing point for the proposed Asia Connect Cable (ACC-1) and will also connect to domestic networks including the Unite Cable system.

The facility is expected to be complete in the second half of 2026.

The Unite Cable system is a recently granted Northern Territory Government project, linking Darwin to Adelaide and Melbourne via a high-capacity terrestrial network.

“The cable landing station will deliver important infrastructure and services to Northern Australia supporting the landing of international subsea cables into Darwin and providing with the assistance of Unite, a direct, low latency terrestrial pathway, from the international segments to uses and facilities in the territory and southern states,” said Ken Michael, COO at Inligo.

“Darwin will be well-established to encourage the development and eventual delivery of international capacity into Australia, avoiding existing longer path routes to Asia.”

Inligo Networks owns the Asia Connect Cable, set to be operational in 2027. The 19,000km cable will connect Darwin, Australia, to Guam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and California, US.

Darwin is currently home to one cable; the domestic North-West subsea cable system. The BW Digital-owned Hawaiki Nui 1 cable is also expected to land in the city in 2027.