NTT Communications opens service on Asia Pacific Gateway submarine network

NTT Communications Corp. (NTT Com), the ICT and international communications services business unit within NTT Group (NYSE:NTT), says it now offers service over the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) submarine network. The undersea cable system offers connection points in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. NTT Com says it has service partnerships with major telecommunication carriers in each of these countries.

NTT signed a memorandum of understanding for construction of the undersea cable system in 2009. Partners in the agreement included China Telecom, China Unicom, Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, KT Corp., PLDT of the Philippines, Telekom Malaysia, and Vietnam's VNPT. Facebook subsequently signed on as a backer as well.

The Asia Pacific Gateway runs 10,400 km. It offers 100-Gbps optical transmission and a total capacity of more than 54 Tbps, which NTT says is the highest of any network in Asia. The submarine network route was planned to avoid areas prone to earthquakes and typhoons. The network leverages Equinix data center facilities in at least some of its markets (see "Equinix touts success with submarine cable system operators").

In Japan, NTT Com has created landing point diversity, one in the east and the other in the west of the country, for the APG and Pacific Crossing-1 (PC-1) submarine cable, which connects Japan and the U.S. The company has done the same with APG and the Asia Submarine-Cable Express (ASE) in Hong Kong and Singapore.

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