SingTel joins global consortium to build new trans-pacific cable system

The network has a maximum speed of 60 terabits per second.

SingTel has jumped into a consortium of six global companies have signed commercial agreements to build and operate a new trans-Pacific cable system which will have an initial capacity of 60 terabits per second, the company revealed yesterday.

The stystem will be called FASTER and will be supplied by NEC Corporation as the system supplier. It will be completed by the second quarter of 2016 and will connect the United States to two landing locations in Japan.

The total amount invested is approximately US$300 million. It aims to address the intense traffic demands for broadband, mobile, applications, content and enterprise data exchange on the trans-Pacific route.

FASTER will feature the latest high- quality 6-fibre-pair cable and optical transmission technologies, with an initial design capacity of 60 Terabits per second.

This new cable system will land at Chikura and Shima in Japan and provide seamless connectivity to many neighboring cable systems in Japan. Connections in the United States will extend the system to major hubs across the West Coast covering Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

The consortium comprises China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, Google, KDDI and SingTel. The name FASTER was adopted to represent the cable system’s purpose of rapidly serving traffic demands.

According to Ooi Seng Keat, Vice President, Carrier Services of SingTel Group Enterprise, “SingTel is pleased to be part of a consortium which is constructing one of the highest capacity cable systems to be built. FASTER can transmit an equivalent of 12,000 high- definition movies every second across the Pacific Ocean. It will facilitate the delivery of broadband-heavy applications, video and contents to meet the future needs of consumers and enterprises. This cutting-edge cable system will enable SingTel to provide our customers with greater network diversity and resilience, and reinforce our position as the leading provider of international data services in the region.”

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