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Asian surfers set for bandwidth boon

Fran Foo CNet Asia

Published: 02 Dec 2002 12:38 GMT

Internet users in Asia can look forward to enhanced online connectivity, thanks to an upcoming 1,000km cable spanning Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

A consortium comprising Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and PT Telekommunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) has commissioned Japan's NEC to lead the project.

The 30 Gbps network will utilise SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) technology and is slated for completion by the end of 2003, SingTel said in a statement.

In Asia, Internet users are used to periodic downtime with undersea cables often damaged by "shipping activities", the most common reason cited by operators when networks fail. The new cable, which will cut across Songkhla, Thailand, Batam, Indonesia and Changi, Singapore, might not immediately reduce this risk but will provide a form of redundancy.

"Currently, there are only a few cable networks that connect Indonesia and Thailand to the rest of Asia, and only APCN (Asia Pacific Cable Network) and SMW 3 (South-East-Asia, Middle-East, Western-Europe) link Singapore and the other two countries directly," said Ng Seng Sum, head of SingTel International Network.

"To ease the expected traffic bottleneck, it's important that the three carriers come together to plan ahead to meet future demand," Ng said.

"It's also the perfect time to undertake a new cable project as we are able to leverage on the industry downturn to achieve substantial cost-savings with suppliers," he added.

Financial details were not disclosed.

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