Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 01 | Page 64

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling Vietnam to be linked by 126 Tbps pan-Asian submarine cable A new undersea cable will serve Vietnam where more than 64% of the population are online. A new undersea cable with a bandwidth of 126 Tbps, the highest of any serving Vietnam currently, is set to become operational next year. The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) said it is collaborating with China Mobile International, Singapore’s Singtel, Indonesia’s Telin, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom and South Korea’s SK Broadband to lay the Southeast Asia Japan 2 cable (SJC2). Costing US$439 million, the cable will also serve mainland China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. In Vietnam, the point of connection would be in Quy Nhon Town in the south-central province of Binh Dinh. VIETNAM, WHERE MORE THAN 64% OF THE POPULATION ARE ONLINE, IS CONNECTED TO SIX UNDERSEA CABLES AND A 120 GIGABIT OVERLAND CABLE FROM CHINA. SJC2 will be the sixth international marine cable to serve Vietnam in which VNPT has a stake. Military-run Viettel has said it has tied up with Singapore’s Singtel, China Telecom, Japan’s SoftBank and India’s Tata Communications to install a 9,400km submarine cable that would serve Vietnam. The 140 Tbps cable is expected to be laid by the end of 2022. Vietnam, where more than 64% of the population are online, is connected to six undersea cables and a 120 gigabit overland cable from China. The Asia Pacific Gateway undersea cable, the one with the highest bandwidth (54 Tbps) currently, has suffered frequent disruptions. • 64 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com