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. (003)