Beyond Singapore’s Borders: How Axclusive’s International Network Delivers True End-to-End Connectivity
Introduction
In Singapore’s competitive telecommunications landscape, not all network providers are created equal. While many local carriers claim to offer international connectivity, the reality is that most rely on a practice called “hot potato routing” — handing off your traffic to third-party Tier 1 providers at Singapore’s borders. This approach may reduce costs for the carrier, but it comes at the expense of performance, control, and reliability for customers.
Axclusive takes a fundamentally different approach. As a carrier with our own international network infrastructure, we maintain Points of Presence (POP) beyond Singapore and operate dedicated submarine cable capacity to key global hubs. This means your data stays on our network from origin to destination, giving you better performance, lower latency, and unprecedented control over your connectivity.
Understanding Hot Potato Routing: The Hidden Limitation of Local Carriers
What Is Hot Potato Routing?
Hot potato routing is a network traffic management strategy where carriers pass off (or “hand off”) traffic to another network as quickly as possible — typically at the nearest interconnection point. The term comes from the children’s game where players try to pass a hot potato quickly to avoid getting burned.
- Accepting traffic locally within Singapore
- Handing it off immediately to Tier 1 upstream providers at the earliest exit point (usually at Singapore’s internet exchange or border)
- Letting the Tier 1 provider handle all international routing and delivery
For local carriers, hot potato routing offers several operational advantages:
- Lower infrastructure costs: No need to invest in international POPs or submarine cable capacity
- Reduced operational complexity: Less network to manage and maintain
- Simplified peering relationships: Fewer international interconnections to negotiate
While hot potato routing reduces costs for carriers, it creates significant disadvantages for customers:
- Loss of control: Once traffic leaves the local carrier’s network, you have no visibility or control over routing paths
- Unpredictable latency: Your data may take suboptimal routes through multiple Tier 1 networks
- Performance variability: Quality depends on third-party networks you didn’t choose
- Limited troubleshooting: Network issues become finger-pointing exercises between multiple carriers
- Higher latency to key markets: Traffic may route through unnecessary intermediate locations
The Axclusive Advantage: Cold Potato Routing with End-to-End Network Ownership
Our International Network Infrastructure
Unlike typical local carriers, Axclusive operates a true international network with:
Multiple International Points of Presence (POPs)
- Strategic locations beyond Singapore across key Asia-Pacific and European markets
- Direct network presence in major business hubs
- Ability to carry your traffic across our own infrastructure
- Singapore to Hong Kong: Direct connectivity to Asia’s financial hub
- Singapore to Marseille: Seamless access to European markets via France’s primary cable landing station
- Owned capacity, not leased transit
- We keep your traffic on our network as long as possible
- Traffic stays under our control across multiple countries and regions
- Handoffs only occur close to the final destination
1. Lower Latency
By maintaining POPs in Hong Kong, Marseille, and other key locations, we dramatically reduce latency compared to hot potato routing:
- Singapore to Hong Kong: Direct path on our network vs. multiple handoffs through intermediaries
- Singapore to Europe: Single-hop to Marseille vs. unpredictable Tier 1 routing through potentially multiple continents
When your entire traffic path traverses a single network operator (Axclusive), you get:
- Predictable packet delivery times
- Consistent bandwidth availability
- Fewer jitter issues for real-time applications
- Better quality for latency-sensitive workloads (trading platforms, gaming, video conferencing)
With end-to-end ownership, we can:
- Optimize routing paths based on real-time network conditions
- Implement traffic engineering specific to your requirements
- Provide detailed network analytics across the entire path
- Troubleshoot issues without involving third parties
Our international infrastructure means:
- Multiple redundant paths under single-operator control
- Faster failover during network incidents
- No dependency on third-party SLAs for international segments
- Proactive monitoring and management across the entire route
Key Use Cases: Who Benefits Most from Axclusive’s Network?
Milliseconds matter in financial markets. Our direct Singapore-Hong Kong submarine cable capacity ensures:
- Ultra-low latency for trading platforms
- Consistent performance for market data feeds
- Predictable execution times for high-frequency trading
Companies with offices across Asia and Europe need reliable inter-regional connectivity:
- Seamless branch-to-branch communication
- Consistent quality for cloud applications
- Better performance for Microsoft 365, SAP, and other business-critical platforms
Media companies require high-bandwidth, low-latency paths:
- Faster content distribution to edge servers
- Better quality for live streaming events
- Improved user experience for end viewers
Online gaming platforms and real-time applications demand:
- Minimal latency for player experience
- Reduced jitter for smooth gameplay
- Direct routing to gaming servers in Hong Kong and Europe
Cloud platforms benefit from:
- Direct paths to hyperscale data centers
- Better performance for multi-region deployments
- Enhanced customer experience for Asia-Europe cloud connectivity
Technical Deep Dive: How Submarine Cable Capacity Makes the Difference
Our dedicated capacity on the Singapore-Hong Kong submarine cable system provides:
- Direct fiber connectivity: No intermediate landing stations
- Low latency: Typically 30-36ms round-trip time
- High availability: Multiple fiber pairs for redundancy
- Scalable bandwidth: Capacity to support growing customer demands
This direct route is crucial for businesses requiring fast access to Hong Kong’s financial markets, data centers, and as a gateway to mainland China.
The Singapore-Marseille submarine cable connection offers:
- European gateway: Marseille is France’s primary cable landing station with onward connectivity throughout Europe
- Reduced hops: Direct path instead of routing through Middle East or multiple European countries
- Lower latency to Western Europe: Optimized path to major European business centers
- Mediterranean advantage: Strategic positioning for routes to North Africa and Southern Europe
Comparing Network Architectures: Axclusive vs. Traditional Local Carriers
| Aspect | Traditional Local Carrier (Hot Potato) | Axclusive (Cold Potato) |
| International POPs | No POPs beyond Singapore | Multiple POPs across Asia-Pacific and Europe |
| Submarine Cable | Leased transit through Tier 1 providers | Owned capacity to Hong Kong and Marseille |
| Traffic Handoff | At Singapore border | Close to final destination |
| Latency | Higher and variable | Lower and consistent |
| Routing Control | Limited to Singapore segment | End-to-end control |
| Troubleshooting | Multi-vendor complexity | Single-operator visibility |
| Performance SLAs | Only for local segment | Entire international path |
| Network Optimization | Depends on third parties | Direct traffic engineering |
Real-World Impact: Performance Metrics That Matter
Based on typical network paths:
Singapore to Hong Kong:
- Traditional carrier (hot potato): 34-45ms (via multiple Tier 1 handoffs)
- Axclusive (direct submarine cable): 30-36ms
- Improvement: 15-30% reduction
- Traditional carrier: 145-160ms (variable routing)
- Axclusive (via Marseille): 133-145ms (direct path)
- Improvement: 10-25% reduction
End-to-end network ownership also reduces:
- Jitter variability: 40-60% improvement for real-time applications
- Packet loss: Fewer interconnection points = fewer potential drop points
Beyond Connectivity: Additional Benefits of Axclusive’s Network Model
- Single point of contact for international connectivity
- Unified SLAs across entire network path
- Streamlined support and escalation procedures
- No surprise charges from intermediate carriers
- Transparent pricing for end-to-end service
- Better cost-per-bit economics at scale
- Comprehensive visibility into traffic patterns
- Detailed performance metrics across the entire route
- Proactive capacity planning and optimization
- Investment in owned infrastructure means continuous improvements
- Ability to deploy new technologies (400G, 800G optics) across our entire network
- Direct path to emerging markets as we expand POPs
Choosing the Right Network Partner: Questions to Ask
When evaluating network providers, ask these critical questions:
- “Do you operate your own international POPs, or do you hand off to Tier 1 providers?”
- “Do you own or lease submarine cable capacity?”
- “Where exactly does my traffic leave your network?”
- “Can you provide end-to-end SLAs, or only local segment guarantees?”
- “What visibility and control do I have over international routing paths?”
With Axclusive, the answers demonstrate our commitment to true end-to-end network ownership.
Conclusion: Elevate Your International Connectivity with Axclusive
In today’s digital economy, network performance isn’t just about bandwidth — it’s about latency, consistency, control, and reliability. While hot potato routing may be the norm among local carriers, it represents a compromise that businesses can no longer afford.
Axclusive’s investment in international Points of Presence and dedicated submarine cable capacity to Hong Kong and Marseille delivers measurable advantages:
✓ Lower latency through direct routing paths
✓ Better performance with end-to-end network control
✓ Greater reliability without third-party dependencies
✓ Complete visibility across your entire traffic path
✓ Future-ready infrastructure that scales with your business
When your applications, customers, and competitive advantage depend on network performance, settle for nothing less than a carrier that owns and operates its entire international network.
Experience the Axclusive difference — where your traffic stays on our network from Singapore to the world.
About Axclusive
Axclusive is a Singapore-based network operator with international infrastructure spanning Asia-Pacific and Europe. Unlike traditional local carriers, we maintain our own Points of Presence beyond Singapore and operate dedicated submarine cable capacity to key global hubs including Hong Kong and Marseille. Our end-to-end network approach delivers superior performance, lower latency, and complete control over your international connectivity.
Contact us today to learn how Axclusive can transform your international network performance.