JUNE 2, 2008 -- China Telecom, Asia's largest fixed-line telecommunications company, working with four other TPE Consortium team members, says it will complete the project in the third quarter of this year. China Telecom Americas, the largest international subsidiary of China Telecom Limited, has announced the presale of the Trans-Pacific Express product to meet advanced applications and requirements. The cable, a $500-million investment of the consortium team is 13,000 miles long and will carry 2.56 Tbits/sec.
The Trans-Pacific Express Cable (search for TPE) is the first next-generation undersea optical cable system directly linking the United States and China, and the first major undersea system to land on the U.S. West Coast in more than seven years, say TPE representatives. TPE will be more than 60 times the overall capacity of the existing cable directly linking the United States and China and, thus, will be a major enhancement to the current cable systems between the two nations.
China Telecom says this next-generation undersea system, coupled with its other undersea and terrestrial cables, will provide multinational customers doing business in Asia with data services that operate at faster speeds with increased reliability and extensive route diversity.
"China Telecom Americas is committed to meet and exceed the needs of its global customers and their mission critical operations," contends Donald Tan, president, China Telecom Americas. "By being a leading member of the consortium to construct TPE, China Telecom will soon be able to provide greater capacity and higher speeds to meet the dramatic increasing demand for IP, data, and voice communications traffic between the Americas and China and within the region," he adds.
The cable is designed to support future Internet growth and advanced applications such as e-commerce and video.
The five landing points for the TPE cable include two in China, Chongming in Shanghai and Qingdao in Shandong Province, and one in the United States, Nedonna Beach in Oregon.
Visit China Telecom Americas