Reliance Global, Bharti in East Asia cable deal
11-12-2009
Moving into an area where rival Tata Comm is performing strongly
After watching Tata Communications move strongly into the South East Asia market with its Tyco and Tata Global Network cables, Reliance Globalcom and Bharti Airtel want in also.
They are part of a group of telcos and technology firms (including Google) that on Thursday signed an agreement to build and operate a submarine cable system with the world's highest capacity. To be built at an estimated $400 million, the Southeast Asia Japan Cable system (SJC) would address broadband demand and sustain the growth in data, web applications and Internet traffic throughout Asia, a joint statement said.
The SJC system, measuring 8,300 km, will initially link Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan. The six-fibre-pair high-capacity submarine cable system has a design capacity of 17 Terabits per second (Tbps), and can be upgraded to 23 Tbps, the highest capacity system ever built so far. The consortium includes Globe Telecom (Philippines), Google (US), KDDI (Japan), Network i2i, Reliance Globalcom (through FLAG Pacific Ltd, Bermuda), Bharti Airtel and Telemedia Pacific Inc Ltd (Hong Kong/Indonesia).
"We will now be uniquely positioned to provide to our customers' voice, Internet and data services across the entire Asian continent connecting the top 10 key business markets in Asia Pacific" Reliance Globalcom President and CEO Punit Garg said.
After watching Tata Communications move strongly into the South East Asia market with its Tyco and Tata Global Network cables, Reliance Globalcom and Bharti Airtel want in also.
They are part of a group of telcos and technology firms (including Google) that on Thursday signed an agreement to build and operate a submarine cable system with the world's highest capacity. To be built at an estimated $400 million, the Southeast Asia Japan Cable system (SJC) would address broadband demand and sustain the growth in data, web applications and Internet traffic throughout Asia, a joint statement said.
The SJC system, measuring 8,300 km, will initially link Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan. The six-fibre-pair high-capacity submarine cable system has a design capacity of 17 Terabits per second (Tbps), and can be upgraded to 23 Tbps, the highest capacity system ever built so far. The consortium includes Globe Telecom (Philippines), Google (US), KDDI (Japan), Network i2i, Reliance Globalcom (through FLAG Pacific Ltd, Bermuda), Bharti Airtel and Telemedia Pacific Inc Ltd (Hong Kong/Indonesia).
"We will now be uniquely positioned to provide to our customers' voice, Internet and data services across the entire Asian continent connecting the top 10 key business markets in Asia Pacific" Reliance Globalcom President and CEO Punit Garg said.
