Digital Realty Plans New Los Angeles Subsea Cable Landing Station
The LAX12 project is designed to connect subsea cables more directly with terrestrial networks, carriers and cloud providers across the Los Angeles campus.
Digital Realty plans to develop a new cable landing station at its LAX12 data center in Los Angeles in partnership with Assured Communications. The project is intended to strengthen links between Asia Pacific and North America by bringing subsea cable landing, terrestrial connectivity, colocation and interconnection closer together.
For cable operators, cloud companies and carriers, the proposed facility is designed to provide a turnkey location for landing and powering subsea systems while giving those systems access to the wider Los Angeles connectivity ecosystem.
*Digital Realty’s announcement confirms the project and its purpose. Industry reporting says the station is expected to begin supporting cables in 2028.
What Digital Realty announced
Digital Realty said it will develop a new cable landing station at the LAX12 data center with Assured Communications, a company that specializes in subsea infrastructure design and delivery.
| Project element | What it means | Who benefits |
|---|---|---|
| New cable landing station | A coastal facility where submarine communications cables can come ashore and connect into terrestrial networks. | Subsea cable operators and international network providers. |
| LAX12 data center | Places the landing infrastructure inside Digital Realty’s Los Angeles data center and interconnection environment. | Carriers, cloud providers, content platforms and enterprise networks. |
| Turnkey landing and power | Designed to provide a prepared location for landing and powering cable systems. | Cable owners seeking a faster, more integrated deployment model. |
| Subsea-to-terrestrial integration | Brings undersea routes closer to terrestrial networks, cross-connects and colocation services. | Users that need lower-friction international connectivity and route diversity. |
Why Los Angeles matters for international connectivity
Los Angeles is a major network location for traffic crossing the Pacific. A new landing station can give cable operators another way to connect international systems with the carriers, cloud platforms and data centers already present in the market.
The important change is proximity
The project is designed to place subsea landing infrastructure closer to terrestrial interconnection. That can simplify the path from an undersea cable to networks, cloud services and content platforms hosted across the Los Angeles campus.
This does not automatically mean faster consumer broadband. The benefits will depend on which cables use the station, which networks connect to it and how operators build routes onward from Los Angeles.
Four potential benefits for network operators
The proposed station is infrastructure for international networks rather than a retail internet service. Its value comes from how it connects cable systems to the wider digital ecosystem.
More integrated cable deployments
A turnkey landing and power solution may reduce the number of separate facilities and handoffs required when bringing a subsea system into Los Angeles.
Direct access to interconnection
Subsea customers are expected to gain access to networks, cloud providers and carriers available across Digital Realty’s Los Angeles campus.
More route and capacity options
Additional landing capacity can help operators design diverse international routes as demand grows from cloud services, content delivery, AI workloads and enterprise connectivity.
Closer coordination between undersea and land networks
Putting the landing point and terrestrial network environment together can make it easier to provision cross-connects and extend capacity into regional or national backbones.
What the announcement does not confirm
The project is planned infrastructure. Specific cable customers and routes may be announced later.
The station supports network operators, carriers, cloud providers and cable systems rather than selling plans directly to residents.
The amount of traffic the facility can support will depend on its design and the cable systems connected to it.
Construction, permitting, cable schedules and commercial agreements still determine when services become available.
What Assured Communications brings
Assured Communications is supporting the project as the subsea infrastructure specialist. Its role is focused on the design and delivery of the cable landing station rather than the operation of Digital Realty’s entire data center platform.
Data center and interconnection platform
Digital Realty provides the LAX12 site and access to the carrier, cloud, colocation and terrestrial connectivity ecosystem across its Los Angeles campus.
Subsea infrastructure design and delivery
Assured Communications is the specialist partner helping develop the physical cable landing infrastructure and associated deployment.
Could this improve U.S. broadband?
Potentially, but the effect would be indirect. A landing station can improve the underlying international network options available to carriers and cloud providers. Those improvements can support services used by businesses, data centers and internet providers.
Consumers will only notice a direct difference if operators use the additional infrastructure to expand capacity, improve routing, add resilience or reduce the cost of delivering international traffic.
Think infrastructure first
The announcement is about the network layer beneath retail broadband. It strengthens the facilities that providers may use; it does not announce new prices, speeds or customer plans.
The bottom line
Digital Realty’s planned LAX12 cable landing station could strengthen the connection between Pacific subsea cables and the terrestrial networks, carriers and cloud platforms concentrated in Los Angeles. The project is strategically important for international capacity and route diversity, but its practical impact will depend on the cables and customers that ultimately use it. Industry reporting says the station is expected to begin supporting cables in 2028.
Los Angeles cable landing station FAQs
What is Digital Realty building in Los Angeles?
Digital Realty plans to develop a new subsea cable landing station at its LAX12 data center in Los Angeles in partnership with Assured Communications.
What is a subsea cable landing station?
It is a facility where submarine communications cables come ashore and connect to terrestrial networks, carriers, data centers and other infrastructure.
Why is the LAX12 project important?
The project is designed to integrate subsea cable systems with Digital Realty’s terrestrial connectivity, colocation and interconnection platform in Los Angeles.
Who is Assured Communications?
Assured Communications is a specialist in subsea infrastructure design and delivery and is partnering with Digital Realty on the planned station.
Will this give households faster internet?
Not directly. The station is wholesale network infrastructure. Any household benefit would depend on carriers and internet providers using the additional capacity or route options.
When is the station expected to be ready?
The project is in development. Industry reporting says it is expected to begin supporting cables in 2028, although final timing depends on construction, permitting and cable schedules.
Which cables will use the station?
Digital Realty has not announced specific cable systems or customers for the planned station.