China Unicom has completed construction of a $50 million subsea cable connecting Myanmar with China.
The 1,500km cable connects the province of Yunnan in China with Ruili, Mandalay and Yangon and the Myanmar Indian Ocean Ports.
The cable is designed to improve South China's connectivity with Southeast Asia and provide opportunities for the outsourcing sector in the region Xinhuareported, citing sources. Construction commenced in 2011.
Its launch also coincides with efforts to modernize Myanmar's telecom sector to stimulate the economy, following soon after the launch of mobile networks from new nationwide license holders Telenor Myanmar and Ooredoo Myanmar.
The Myanmar telecom sector is accordingly drawing increasing attention from international telcos, vendors and investors. A trade show to promote the market commences today.
China Unicom separately revealed it has extended its Chinese hybrid TDD/FDD LTE trials to a new city, Jianxing. The company is now conducting the trials in 41 cities.
Regulator MIIT gave China Unicom and rival China Telecom approval to conduct the trials in July and to expand them to 40 cities in August.