A consortium comprising Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and PT Telekommunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) has commissioned Japan's NEC to lead the project.
The 30 Gbps network will utilize SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) technology and is slated for completion by the end of 2003, SingTel said in a statement.
In Asia, Internet users are used to periodic downtime with undersea cables often damaged by "shipping activities", the most common reason cited by operators when networks fail. The new landed cable, which will cut across Songkhla in Thailand, Batam in Indonesia and Changi in Singapore, is expected to reduce this risk.
"Currently, there are only a few cable networks that connect Indonesia and Thailand to the rest of Asia, and only APCN (Asia Pacific Cable Network) and SMW 3 (South-East-Asia, Middle-East, Western-Europe) link Singapore and the other two countries directly," said Ng Seng Sum, head of SingTel International Network.
"To ease the expected traffic bottleneck, it's important that the three carriers come together to plan ahead to meet future demand," Ng said.
"It's also the perfect time to undertake a new cable project as we are able to leverage on the industry downturn to achieve substantial cost-savings with suppliers," he added.
Financial details were not disclosed.
