BY James Kon
Unified National Networks (UNN) will be investing up to BND85 million (USD60 million) as part of a consortium of telecommunication companies in a new submarine cable connecting Singapore to Hong Kong.
The Asia Link Cable (ALC) will be approximately 6,000 kilometres in length and construction is expected to be finished by the third quarter of 2025.
The main trunk connecting Singapore to Hong Kong will have branches into Brunei Darussalam, the Hainan province in China and the Philippines. Other members of the consortium are China Telecom Global Limited (CTG), Globe Telecom Inc and DITO Telecommunity Corporation, and Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel).
UNN Chief Executive Officer Dr Steffen Oehler said, “Brunei Darussalam is dependent on the reliable connectivity to the world. UNN is investing in the ALC to provide for growing traffic in the country and the region, and to increase the reliability of international connectivity.
“As the national infrastructure operator in Brunei, UNN is complementing the submarine connectivity with accelerated fiberisation of the access networks, higher broadband speed, and investments in data centre infrastructure.”
“Together with the Borneo IX launched in 2021, we are well prepared for the needs of digitisation nationally and for multinational customers.”
According to UNN, the ALC will adopt an open cable system architecture to reduce dependency on any single provider consortium partners and expedite the capacity upgrade process in serving internal and customer requirements.
This means, individual members of the consortium could select the best equipment independently from each other depending on their requirements and preferences.
With strategic locations and bullish digital growth prospects in mind, there has been an increase of interest to interconnect in the trans-Asian region, enriching the infrastructures for prospective customers.
The ALC will help enhance the existing facilities in catering future requirements in the region.
-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin