A new $500-million fibre optic cable between China and the United States will be vital in helping to meet booming internet traffic between the two nations, state press reported on Tuesday.
US telecom giant Verizon Communications announced on Monday it would build the cable in a joint project with firms from China, South Korea and Taiwan.
The “Trans-Pacific Express” cable will directly link South Korea and Taiwan, as well as China, to the United States, greatly increasing internet speeds between the regions, Verizon said in a press statement.
Verizon will work with mainland Chinese companies China Telecom, China Netcom and China Unicom, as well as Korea Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom from Taiwan to build the underwater cable, it said.
In comments reported in the nation’s state-run press on Tuesday, China Telecom expressed strong enthusiasm for the project.
“The internet traffic between China and the US is growing dramatically, which requires significant trans-Pacific capacity,” the China Daily quoted Leng Rongquan, vice-president of China Telecom, as saying.
Existing cable trans-Pacific links are currently unable to meet rising demand between the world’s two largest internet populations in the United States and China, Leng said.
The China Daily said the cable would be the first to link China directly with the United States. Existing internet traffic is routed through Japan causing long delays, it said.
Verizon Business’ executive vice-president of operations and technology, Fred Briggs, said the cable would support high-speed traffic to the Asia-Pacific, but particularly important was the connection to China.
“Our leadership in this project builds on our important existing relationships in China [and] further recognises the emergence of China as a diverse communications hub for Asia,” Briggs said in the company statement.
Construction of the new cable system, which will extend more than 18 000km, will begin in the first quarter of 2007, Verizon said. Completion is scheduled in the third quarter of 2008. – AFP