New cable links China, ASEAN

New cable links China, ASEAN

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) said Wednesday the first overland telecommunications cable linking China and mainland Southeast Asia will start carrying traffic from Thursday.

The cable built by SingTel and five other regional carriers spans 7,000 kilometers across China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the Singapore company said in a statement.

It will provide an alternative for international leased circuit, Internet and voice services carried on existing submarine cables.

The cable, with a capacity equivalent to 30,000 simultaneous calls, is compatible with other major cable systems such as the China-U.S. cable network.

It has eight landing points in Shanghai and Guangzhou in China, Hanoi, Vientiane, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

SingTel's partners in the venture are China Telecom, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp., Enterprise of Telecommuncations Lao, the Communications Authority of Thailand and Telekom Malaysia.