Telkom initiates fiber optic network with Malaysia

Telkom initiates fiber optic network with Malaysia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia
(Telkom) and Telekom Malaysia Berhad officiated a new fiber optic
network on Thursday in a bid to provide a high capacity global
network for their customers.

Both companies jointly invested US$11 million in the Dumai
Melaka Cable System (DMCS) project.

The newly installed 150-kilometer-long fiber optic cable
planted under the seabed links Dumai, Riau, in Indonesia and
Malaysia's Melaka.

Optical fibers are long, thin strands of pure glass arranged
in bundles called optical cables, used to transmit light signals
over long distances to provide fixed phone line connections.

With this new network, Indonesia will be able to have high
capacity connections with the countries Malaysia is connected to,
and vice versa.

"The connection is established to support the company's TIC
(Telkom International Call 007) service and provide more secure
connections to Malaysia and the world," said Telkom CEO
Kristiono.

The DMCS project has an initial installed capacity of 20
gigabytes per second (Gbps) and is designed to last for 25 years.
The initial capacity will be increased to a maximum of 320 Gbps
when the technology is fully developed.

Indonesia has already cooperated with Singapore
Telecommunications (SingTel) and the Communications Authority of
Thailand (CAT) in operating a similar fiber optic network
connecting the three countries.

The partnership is aimed at opening fiber optic connections,
as Singapore's and Thailand's networks are already hooked up to
the United States and Northern Europe through the eastern part of
Asia. Meanwhile, Malaysia's network to Western Europe and the
U.S. through the southern Asia will provide alternative
connection routes.

"We hope this cooperation will serve as an initial step toward
more ICT (information and communications technology) projects
with Malaysia to catch up with its already developed technology,"
said Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A. Djalil
in a video conference with a Malaysian representative.

Telkom is connecting the DMCS project with its existing local
and regional fiber optic network in a ring interlock that will
back up each other.

"With the newly installed fiber optic network, we will be able
to increase connection capacity and minimize call failures," said
Telkom acting head of corporate communications Muhammad, adding
that the system is equipped with an automatic rerouting
technology to prevent connection failures.

He explained that global connection using fiber optics is more
secure because there would be no electromagnetic interference as
experienced using a satellite. Such a connection is ideal for
high traffic communications.

In last month's Infrastructure Summit, the government offered
the Palapa Ring project, which would need an investment of $1
billion, to local and global investors. The project will link
Indonesian cities through an integrated fiber optic network.
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