The $300m contract is to build a 6,000km submarine cable system known as the Asia Link Cable System (ALC). The aim is that ALC will support Southeast Asia’s economic growth by connecting Hong Kong SAR and Singapore, with the Philippines, Brunei and Hainan, China.
The consortium, co-led by Singtel and China Telecom Global Limited (CTG), comprises four other regional carriers: China Telecommunications Corporation (CTC), Globe Telecom, (Globe) and DITO Telecommunity Corporation (DITO) of the Philippines, and Unified National Networks (UNN) of Brunei.
The system consists of eight fibre pairs that can transmit up to 18Tb/s per fibre pair, which should allow the ALC to add more capacity and route diversity to existing networks, bolstering resiliency for international internet traffic through Southeast Asia.
The ALC will adopt the open cable system design which will reduce the dependency on any single provider consortium partner, and enable timely capacity upgrades to cater to evolving carrier requirements. When completed, the ALC will augment Singtel’s submarine cable infrastructure and unlock opportunities for businesses in Singapore and the region to leverage Singtel’s network, solutions and services, as well as its regional data centre expertise, to transform industries, enterprises and consumer experiences.
Bill Chang, Chief Executive Officer, Group Enterprise and Regional Data Centre Business at Singtel says: “Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, with rising digital demand from consumers and businesses, accelerated by the pandemic. Consumers and Businesses are increasingly relying on services and solutions that require higher-bandwidth and lower-latency connectivity for their work, studies or entertainment. The ALC will bring greater connectivity capacities to transform industries, unlock more opportunities for innovation, further enhancing the digital experiences of Southeast Asian consumers and supporting the growth ambitions of the region.”
Build is targeted for completion by the third quarter of 2025.
