Tata Communications to Enhance Network Capability with New Asia- Pacific Submarine Cable
Tata Communications Limited, an Indian Multinational telecommunications company and part of Tata Group announced on 16th June 2020 that Asia Direct Cable (ADC) Consortium, of which it is a member, is building a new high-performance submarine cable. The submarine cable shall be connecting China (Hong Kong SAR and Guangdong Province), Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Special Features of the Proposed Submarine Network Cable
The consortium has selected Japanese multinational information technology and electronics company NEC Corporation for construction of submarine cable (ADC) . The length of submarine cable (ADC) is 9,400 km and project is expected to be completed by Q4 FY22.
The cable will have multiple pairs of high capacity optical fibres, with capability to carry more than 140 Terabit per second (Tbps) of traffic.
The New Submarine Cable to Support Data-Intensive Applications
The new cable shall support bandwidth-intensive applications driven by technological advancements in 5G, Cloud Platforms, Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI). As reported in press release of NEC dated 11th June 2020, Atsushi Kuwahara, General Manager, Submarine Network Division, NEC Corporation said, “This advanced optical fiber submarine cable system will provide seamless connectivity to the countries it lands in and the regions it services”.
In same press release ADC Co-Chair, Mr. Koji Ishii of SoftBank (member ADC Consortium) mentioned that it shall “contribute to drive the Asian ICT business growth as one of the core infrastructure in the region and to meet the evolving marketplace”.
Tata’s Association with ADC and its Benefits
ADC will help Tata Communications to enhance its network capability in Asia Pacific region. Carl Osborne, Associate Vice President, International Cable Network Development, Tata Communications said “Our collaboration within ADC consortium to build this high-performance submarine cable will provide enterprises with additional connectivity between major traffic hubs in Asia”, he also mentioned that “additional capability will address the increasing bandwidth and data demands of enterprises in Asia and globally”, as mentioned in press release of Tata Communication dated 16th June 2020.
About Tata Communications: It is a part of Tata group, a digital ecosystem enabler headquartered in Pune. It owns and operates world’s only wholly owned subsea network that encircles the globe. 30% of world’s Internet routes travel over Tata Communications network.
About Asia Direct Cable Consortium: It is a global consortium (association) of companies which include- CAT, China Telecom, China Unicom, PLDT Inc., Singtel, SoftBank Corp., Tata Communications and Viettel. Tata Communications was among the early initiator since 2018.
