NTT Com Asia has connected its 7,800km ultra-low latency Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) to Hong Kong, with a target launch date set in Q1 2013.
The ASE - the eighth submarine cable system in Hong Kong - links the market with major business hubs across East Asia including Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia. Connection of the ASE between Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia route was launched in Aug 2012.
Of the 7,800km cable, which represents a total construction cost of $430 million, 30 km stretches into the Hong Kong waters. Passing through Tathong Channel from the South China Sea, the cable connects to the landing station at the NTT Communications Hong Kong Financial Data Centre (FDC) in Tseung Kwan O.
Capacity of 60 times peak HK traffic
The new subsea cable has a total carrying capacity of more than 15 Tbps, equivalent to over 60 times of the peak total internet traffic in Hong Kong in 2012.
Demand for bandwidth on intra-Asian submarine cables is projected to grow drastically between 2011 and 2018 (averaging close to 40% growth per annum).
The route of ASE, which is constructed up to 10 meters below seabed, is designed to bypass areas that are prone to seismic activities, and the cable is constructed using a double-armored cable, with two layers of high tensile steel strands for extra protection.
Eliza Lee, director-general of communications, Hong Kong Office of the Communications Authority, said: "We warmly welcome the landing of the ASE in Hong Kong. This new submarine cable system, the eighth in Hong Kong, will not only boost significantly our external telecommunications capacity, but will also contribute to the overall network resilience of both Hong Kong and the Asian-Pacific Region against earthquakes and other natural disasters."