SingTel plans $1.5b project

SingTel plans $1.5b project

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones):Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.is embarking on a US$1.5 billion submarine cable project in the Asia Pacific, industry sources said Monday.

They confirmed an article in the Business Times, a business daily Monday, that SingTel is in talks with several companies in the region to participate in the project. SingTel is expected to inject US$40 million into the network.

SingTel declined to comment.

The cable system, which will connect South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore, is expected to be ready in the third quarter of 2001, Business Times said.

It will allow SingTel to sell broadband capacity to carriers, Internet service providers and other end-users on a wholesale basis. C2C AsiaPac Pte. Ltd., SingTel's new unit, will undertake the building and operation of the cable system, the daily said.