NTT Com details $430m Asia Pac cable

NTT Com is leading development of a new $430 million (€313 million) subsea cable linking Japan with Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
 
The 7,200 km Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) will be jointly constructed by NTT Com and Hong Kong-based NTT Com Asia, Telekom Malaysia, the Philippines' PLDT and Singapore's StarHub, and offer 40Gbps of capacity when it comes online in June 2012.
 
NTT Com states the cable will boost regional capacity, and pave the way for improved global services with the capacity to handle 100Gbps optical technology at a future date.
 
NEC and Fujitsu have won the contract to build the cable, and the pair will also manage the project. NEC will produce submersible elements including repeaters, cables and power feeds, with Fujitsu providing submarine line terminal equipment and the management controller.
 
Crucially the cable will be designed to cope with natural disasters including earthquakes and typhoons – an essential element in crossing the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan where such events have led to at least three service disruptions since 2006.
 
More connections will be added to the cable once the operating partners agree deals with other major Asian operators, with Hong Kong due to be the first addition by end 2012.