SingTel unit to construct $2B submarine cable system
SingTel has formed C2C, a subsidiary unit, to embark on the construction of the C2C Cable Network, a state-of-the-art pan-Asian submarine cable system.
Singapore, 17 July 2000 - The C2C Cable Network will be a fully redundant and highly diversified network with a design capacity of 7.5 Terabits per second. This means that it will be able to accommodate more than 90 million conversations simultaneously.
The network will be one of the world's largest in terms of capacity and the cost of the project is estimated to be US$2 billion.
The 17,000-km C2C Cable Network will link Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and, subject to regulatory approval, China. It is expected to begin carrying traffic in the third quarter of 2001.
Unlike traditional submarine cable systems in Asia that provide shore-to-shore connectivity, C2C will work with the local carriers in the various target markets to provide a one-stop-shop city-to-city (C2C) connectivity. This means that C2C customers will have direct links to the various major business centres in Asia and do not have to look for backhaul facilities themselves.
Mr Hoh Wing Chee, SingTel's Vice President (International Network), said,"The C2C Cable Network will meet the booming demand for bandwidth in this region as use of the Internet continues to increase exponentially."
"Internet traffic comprised just 14 per cent of total global telecommunications traffic in 1999. This figure is expected to increase to 82 per cent in 2005. Asia will contribute much of this growth", said Hoh.
Instructions to Proceed (ITP) for the multi-billion dollar cable supply contract have been issued to two leading global submarine cable manufacturers, Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd. (TSSL) and KDD Submarine Cable Systems.
SingTel is in the process of finalising discussions with a number of companies, including the landing parties and suppliers of the network, regarding equity participation, capacity purchase and/or capacity swap in the venture.
