Global consortium to build SEA-US undersea cable system

A consortium of seven global telecommunications companies has agreed to cooperate in the construction and operation of a new submarine cable system that directly connects Southeast Asia and the United States. NEC Corp. has been announced as the system supplier.

The Southeast Asia – United States "SEA-US" consortium consists of PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), Globe Telecom, RAM Telecom International (RTI), Hawaiian Telcom, Teleguam Holdings (GTA), GTI Corp. (a member of the Globe Telecom group of companies), and Telkom USA.

The SEA-US undersea cable system will link the five areas and territories of Manado (Indonesia), Davao (Philippines), Piti (Guam), Oahu (Hawaii), and Los Angeles. The system will be approximately 15,000 km in length and avoid earthquake-prone areas in East Asia, thereby helping to ensure stable connectivity.

"The SEA-US project is connected seamlessly with Telkom's Domestic Backbone, and the cable will provide unmatched latency from Indonesia to the United States," said Syarif Syarial Ahmad, president director of Telin. "The project will also support Indonesia's strong economic growth and its government's Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI). We began pursuing SEA-US in 2013 and are very proud to be a part of this historic project that marks the first gateway from the east part of Indonesia to the world."

In addition, Gil Genio, chief operating officer for international and business markets at Globe Telecom, said, "Our country has become the preferred destination for the outsourcing and offshoring industry, including major call centers, business process outsourcing providers, global financial institutions, and a host of other multinationals that require very large bandwidth. We have also seen the explosion of the mobile Internet, enabling a new lifestyle for our mobile customers and businesses. The SEA-US project will enable Globe to meet tomorrow's bandwidth needs, and is part of our effort to provide a great customer experience on their mobile and other devices, as well as add even more diverse options for companies to connect to the U.S."

Russ Matulich, chief executive officer of RTI, added, "The SEA-US Cable will provide much needed Asia-US connectivity and will be the fastest cable connecting Southeast Asia with the United States. It provides essential route diversity from the North Pacific and taps into to the strong economic growth of more than 1.5 billion businesses and consumers who are internet savvy and data hungry."

When completed in the fourth quarter of 2016 at an approximate cost of $250 million, the submarine network will provide an additional 20-Tbps capacity connecting Indonesia and the Philippines to the United States via 100G technology. This capacity will cater to the exponential growth of bandwidth demand between both continents.

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