TM forms consortium for Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand subsea cable system

KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) has sealed an agreement with Symphony Communication of Thailand and Telcotech of Cambodia to form a consortium to establish the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) submarine cable system.

The latest intra-regional submarine cable system, which spans about 1,300 km, is expected to be ready for commercial traffic by end-2016.

It also would provide further access to Indochina countries like Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam via terrestrial links, TM said in a statement. 

Upon completion, international telcos from various regions that have an interest in Indochina, can utilise the MCT cable system.

Indochina operators that ride on MCT will be able to access Malaysia as well as other Asean countries.

They can also access other international destinations by leveraging on TM’s extensive regional and global network coverage at competitive rates. 

TM executive director and group chief financial officer, Datuk Bazlan Osman said the MCT cable system would become the catalyst for other growing industries in Indochina that required telecommunication infrastructure.

“This is the case as communication is an essential element for current businesses in this era,” he said at the signing ceremony in Cambodia on Monday. 

He added that the MCT cable system would definitely play an important role in the business growth of the Asean region, especially in the telecommunication sector. 

Inking the agreement on behalf of TM was executive vice president (global and wholesale) Mohamad Rozaimy Abd Rahman, Telcotech chief executive officer Oknha Paul Blanche-Horgan and Symphony Communication of Thailand’s president, Teerarat Pantarasutra.

Oknha Paul commented: “The MCT cable will play a crucial role in helping us continue the work in the decades to come by enabling faster, more reliable and affordable internet access for all.

“The connection to the region, and the Asia America Gateway (AAG) cable and beyond, will also allow Telcotech to offer better solutions to our clients and help meet Cambodia’s communications needs as the country continues to develop.”

Teerarat said the MCT Cable System would greatly benefit Asean countries other than Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand, as they could have an enhancement in telecommunication as well. 

The cable system will adopt 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) upgradable technology with a design capacity of at least 30 Tbps.

To date, TM owns 14 in-service submarine cable systems, which span more than 100,000 fibre-route miles around the globe, including several submarine cable routes that the company utilises to carry traffic between Asia-Pacific, North America, South Asia, Middle East, Africa and European region. - Bernama