SINGAPORE, February 26 /PRNewswire/ --
- High-Bandwidth Cable System to Support Traffic Between Asia and US
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and five other international telecommunications carriers have signed an agreement to construct a new ultra high-speed submarine cable system linking the United States to Japan.
The other carriers involved in the project include Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI Corporation and Pacnet.
The US$300 million cable system, named Unity, will span 10,000 km across the Pacific Ocean, linking Chikura in Japan directly to Los Angeles in the United States. It is expected to be ready for service in the first quarter of 2010.
Using state-of-the-art Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology, it will support up to 960 Gbits per second per fibre-optic pair with a maximum of eight fibre pairs. By having a higher fibre count, it is able to offer more capacity at lower unit costs. Unity will have a potential design capacity of 7.68 Tbits per second, making it one of the highest capacity cables of its kind. This data rate is equivalent to more than seven million Internet users simultaneously having real-time access to a 1 Mb file.
Mr Mark Chong, SingTel's Executive Vice President for Networks, said: "This new submarine cable network, with its high capacity and resilient transmission infrastructure, will be able to meet the strong demand for data, e-commerce and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States."
"As it is connected to other cable systems in Asia, it will also provide access to other parts of the region and serve as an important cable diversity route. The Unity submarine cable network will help to further strengthen SingTel's position as Asia's leading communications company," he added.
NEC Corporation and Tyco Telecommunications have been jointly awarded the contract to implement this project.
About SingTel
SingTel is Asia's leading communications group with operations and investments around the world. Serving both the corporate and consumer markets, it is committed to bringing the best of global communications to customers in the Asia Pacific and beyond.
With significant operations in Singapore and Australia (through wholly-owned subsidiary SingTel Optus), the Group provides a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms.
To serve the needs of multi-national corporations, SingTel has a network of 37 offices in 19 countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States. These offices enable SingTel to deliver reliable and quality network solutions to its customers, either on its own or jointly with local partners.
The Group also has major investments in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. Together with its regional partners, SingTel is Asia's largest multi-market mobile operator, serving about 172 million customers in eight markets.
SingTel employs more than 19,000 people worldwide and had a turnover of SG$13.15 billion (US$8.40 billion) and net profit after tax of SG$3.78 billion (US$2.42 billion) for the year ended 31 March 2007. More information can be found at http://www.singtel.com and http://www.optus.com.au .
Media contact: Dylan Tan Corporate Communications Manager Phone: +65-6838-8772 Mobile: +65-9781-9250 Email: dylantan@singtel.com Web site: http://www.singtel.com http://www.optus.com.au
Dylan Tan of SingTel, +65-6838-8772, dylantan@singtel.com
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