Digital Realty to Develop Subsea Cable Landing Station within El Segundo Data Center

Digital Realty has announced plans to develop a new cable landing station (CLS) within its LAX12 data center in El Segundo, California. This strategic project, undertaken in partnership with Assured Communications, aims to create a direct on-ramp for subsea cable capacity into the expansive Los Angeles metropolitan area. The CLS is specifically designed to facilitate high-capacity data transmission routes between the Asia-Pacific region and North America, with an anticipated operational start in 2028.

A cable landing station serves as the crucial point where international subsea cables connect to land-based terrestrial networks. The design leverages the close proximity of El Segundo’s beach landing site to the LAX12 facility, providing cable owners with a more streamlined and efficient path for their subsea systems. This initiative aligns with an evolving industry trend where major hyperscale cloud and AI providers increasingly opt to terminate their subsea cables directly within established data centers, rather than relying on traditional standalone landing stations.

Craig Waldrop, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Digital Realty, emphasized the growing importance of cable landing infrastructure within the broader connectivity ecosystem. He noted that while subsea cables deliver vital international capacity, their value is maximized when they can efficiently integrate with the data centers, networks, cloud providers, and end-customers who require this connectivity. The project is intended to offer a turnkey solution for subsea cable operators, simplifying the process of landing and powering their systems.