Globe gets boost from $400 M undersea cable system

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. is expanding business requirements for data after getting a boost from the $400-million Southeast Asia-Japan Cable system launched late last year.

Gil Genio, chief operating officer of Globe, said the 8,900 kilometer undersea cable system is now being upgraded to further enhance capacity amid steady growth in bandwidth demand in the region.

“The upgrade runs parallel with Globe’s network transformation initiative. As we optimize our modernized network to further build capacity, the SJC upgrade allows better network availability and delivery, providing additional support for expanding business requirements for data,” Genio stressed.

The upgrade would increase the capacity by 6.5 terabits per second of capacity utilizing the latest 100 gigabits per second transmission equipment.

The sharp increase in transmission technology from the usual 10 gigabits per second, followed by 40 gigabits per second technology, underscores the upsurge in Internet usage especially mobile Internet.

Once completed, the upgrade would set a new benchmark in global data and information connectivity.

TE SubCom, an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, was commissioned by the SJC consortium to carry out the network upgrade.

Globe’s interconnection with the SJC cable system, which strengthened the country’s connectivity with the region and the rest of the world, was formally launched in inauguration rites led by President Aquino and Globe chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala in September last year.

The undersea cable project consists of six fiber pairs with an initial design capacity of up to 28 terabits per second, one of the fastest speeds an undersea cabling system could provide, to meet bandwidth-intensive applications such as Internet TV, online games and enterprise data exchange.

To illustrate, the cable’s design capacity could support simultaneous streaming of up to three million high-definition videos.

The SJC could further be extended to 9,700 kilometers to link seven territories such as the Philippines, Brunei, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and an option to link with Thailand.

Aside from Globe, the SJC consortium is composed of Brunei International Gateway Sendirian Berhad, China Mobile International Ltd., China Telecommunications Corp., China Telecom Global Ltd., Donghwa Telecom Co. Ltd., Google, KDDI Corp., Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International, and TOT Public Co. Ltd.