SINGAPORE (June 11): Singtel says that the Asia Direct Cable Consortium will be building a high-performance submarine cable connecting China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The consortium includes Singtel, CAT, China Telecom, China Unicom, PLDT, SoftBank Corp, Tata Communications and Viettel.
The consortium has selected NEC Corporation to construct the 9,400 km-long ADC cable. The project is expected to be completed by 4Q22.
The cable will feature multiple pairs of optical fibres and is designed to carry more than 140 Tbps of traffic, which will enable high capacity transmission of data across East and Southeast Asia.
“The Asia Direct Cable we're building will meet the rapidly growing demand for high-speed connectivity for advanced technologies such as 5G, IoT-related services, and high-definition video in the economically dynamic regions of East and Southeast Asia,” says Ooi Seng Keat, vice president of carrier services, OTT and satellites, group enterprise at Singtel.
“The new cable will enhance our infrastructure and also our ability to harness new technologies for future growth. Together with the Southeast Asia – Japan Cable 2 system to be completed next year, the Asia Direct Cable will boost diversity and resilience of our global network, reinforcing Singtel's position as the region’s leading data services provider and strengthening Singapore's status as a global business and info-communications hub,” he adds.
As at 11.54am, Singtel’s shares were changing hands 1.9% down, at $2.60.
