StarHub, NTT tie-up for a faster link to the US<img src="/i/g/update.gif" border=0>

SINGAPORE--Local telco StarHub Pte Ltd and Japan's NTT Communications Corp have signed a memorandum of understanding to provide StarHub Internet Exchange (IX) customers with a faster link to the US.

Under the agreement, StarHub will integrate its IX network with NTT Communications' global tier-1 Internet backbone, which covers Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

The integration is expected to be completed and operational before year end, said StarHub president and CEO Terry Clontz at a press conference today.

"If you are a subscriber of StarHub Internet and Singapore Cable Vision, and sometimes experience slowness (in Internet access), it could be due to international bandwidth (problems) or the location which you are trying to reach," Clontz noted.

"The tie-up with NTT Communications will reduce the probability of having multiple hops to reach the final destination, (essentially) US-hosted Web sites," he added.

Clontz observed that about 80 percent of the local Internet traffic ended up in the US.

The integration with NTT Communications is expected to increase the Singapore-Japan and Singapore-US bandwidth to 1Gbps next year, from the current 200Mbps, said StarHub IX vice president Masao Fujita.

NTT Communications' global coverage was enhanced with the completion of its network merger with that of US-based Internet service provider Verio Inc in April 2001.