SoftBank has announced plans to build two new subsea cable landing stations (CLS) in Japan, supporting the upcoming East Asia to North America (E2A) submarine cable system. The initiative, backed by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, aims to bolster the country’s digital infrastructure by diversifying international cable landing sites.
The new stations will be located in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido Prefecture, and Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture. These sites were strategically chosen to provide geographic redundancy and reduce reliance on existing landing points, such as SoftBank’s Maruyama CLS in Minamiboso City, Chiba Prefecture, one of the country’s most active cable hubs.
SoftBank highlighted the value of these locations for their risk diversification benefits. While the E2A cable will also land in Maruyama, the addition of Tomakomai and Itoshima ensures a broader distribution of infrastructure in case of regional disruptions.
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Announced in March, the E2A cable will span 12,500 kilometers, linking Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States. The cable will land in Toucheng (Taiwan), Busan (South Korea), and Morro Bay (California), in addition to the three Japanese locations.
Developed by Alcatel Submarine Networks, the high-capacity system will feature 12 fiber pairs and offer bandwidth exceeding 192 Tbps. The E2A system is scheduled to become operational in the second half of 2028.
The cable is being developed by a consortium that includes SoftBank, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom, Verizon, and South Korea’s SK Broadband.
Currently, most of Japan’s international cable landing stations are concentrated in Kitaibaraki (Ibaraki Prefecture), Minamiboso (Chiba Prefecture), and Shima (Mie Prefecture). Fukuoka already hosts several landing sites, including facilities linked to the Korea-Japan Cable Network (KJCN) and AT&T’s GOKI cable to Guam. Hokkaido, meanwhile, is primarily home to domestic cables, with the closest landing site to Tomakomai located in Muroran, roughly 65 km to the southwest.
SoftBank’s expansion reflects Japan’s broader strategy to enhance resilience and capacity in its global data connectivity infrastructure.
