Globe, DITO Join USD300-M Subsea Cable System Investment Consortium

A consortium of telecommunication companies from China, Singapore, Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam are investing around USD300 million to build a 6,000-kilometer submarine cable system to connect Hong Kong SAR and Singapore with the Philippines, Brunei and Hainan, China.

This comes as five regional carriers, Globe Telecom Inc. and DITO Telecommunity Corp. from the Philippines, China Telecom Global Ltd. of China, Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) of Singapore, and Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd of Brunei Darussalam announced the signing of the USD300 million contract submarine cable system known as the Asia Link Cable System (ALC) project.

The targeted completion of the ALC is by the third quarter of 2025.

Chief Executive Officer of Singtel’s Group Enterprise and Regional Data Centre Business Bill Chang said that demands for faster internet are now growing in Southeast Asia.

“Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with rising digital demand from consumers and businesses, accelerated by the pandemic. Consumers and Businesses are increasingly relying on services and solutions that require higher-bandwidth and lower-latency connectivity for their work, studies or entertainment,” Chang said.

ALC co-chair Chang Weigou of China Telecom added that the ALC will adopt an open and inclusive principle in its operations.

The ALC will have a minimum trunk capacity of 18 terabits per second in each fiber pair and will have over 30 landing points across the country. (GFB)