Cable shortest route between Japan and Europe

TransTeleCom, a telecoms backbone operator in Russia and NTT Communications, have switched on the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System (HSCS).

The cable system directly links the two companies' telecom networks via an undersea cable between Nevelsk, Sakhalin in Russia and Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan, the two firms said.

The two companies jointly started to construct the fibre optic submarine cable HSCS in 2007 and the work was completed in December 2007.

HSCS measures 570km in length and has a capacity of 640 Gbps.
Its startup gives NTT Com the shortest route between Japan and Europe, compared with existing cable routes through southern Asia and the US, by connecting the cable to the TTK's backbone network in Russia, which is more than 55,000 km long.

The HSCS route will enable NTT Com to provide global leased lines, global IP VPNs and transit.