SingTel expands coverage with submarine cable

Singapore's dominant carrier SingTel has announced the launch of a new fiber-optic submarine cable which gives the company additional reliable infrastructure to enhance its services to customers in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the rest of the world, a Xinhua report said.

The report said SingTel will also be adding two offices to its existing 35 global offices.

The new offices in the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh will be ready from Jan 2006, the firm said.

Spanning three continents, the high-capacity SEA-ME-WE 4 (South East Asia, Middle East and Western Europe) cable was recently completed by a consortium of 16 leading telco players. It is the fourth in a series of cables connecting Asia, Europe and North Africa.

The new cable covers a distance of 20,000 kilometers, stretching all the way from Singapore to France.

SingTel has invested $40 million and owns 8% of this SEA-ME-WE 4 project.