China-SE Asia cable

China-SE Asia cable

BEIJING (AFP): Construction is set to begin soon on a 7,000- kilometer (4,375-mile) fiber-optic cable linking China with Southeast Asian nations, an official newspaper said yesterday.

The land cable, which starts in Shanghai and ends in Singapore, will cross four other countries -- Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia -- the China Daily said, citing official sources.

The terrestrial cable system -- the first of its kind to link China with these nations -- will provide 30,000 digital telecommunications lines when it is completed in 1997.

The telecommunications authorities from all six countries involved have agreed that each will take responsibility for constructing the stage of the cable that runs through their territory.

The new project, which was deemed necessary to meet the demand for telecom services fueled by growing economic links between the six nations, will provide China with its fourth international fiber-optic cable.

A China-Japan submarine cable is already in use while a similar link with South Korea is under construction. The so- called Trans-Asia-Europe cable links China with the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe.