Details of the 20,000km system were announced at the start of the year, which is backed by a consortium of 14 service providers.
Once complete the 100G route will connect 17 countries between Asia and Europe, with a design capacity of at least 24 Terabytes per second on 3-fibre pairs.
“With its completion in 2016, we will further enhance our global network and reinforce our position as the leading provider of international data services in the region,” said Ooi Seng Keat, VP of carrier services at SingTel Group Enterprise; one of the companies involved in the consortium.
Other companies backing the project include Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), China Mobile International (CMI), China Telecom Global (CTG), China Unicom, Djibouti Telecom, du, Orange, Myanmar Post and Telecom (MPT), PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) and Telekom Malaysia (TM), Telecom Italia Sparkle (TIS).
SEA-ME-WE-5 will have landing points in previously underserved countries, such as Indonesia, Yemen and Myanmar.
