A US$250-million Southeast Asia-United States (SEA-US) submarine cable was recently launched by Globe Telecom, providing direct links between Davao and the United States and enhancing international connectivity for businesses in Mindanao and the rest of the country. Outside of Luzon, the undersea cable is the first direct connection of Globe to the United States via Guam, Hawaii, and California, offering faster transmission of data to the US.
“First world connection is more than just fast internet but is also about building a better nation that transcends borders and opens infinite possibilities for everyone. We are excited about this development because of the immense benefits that the undersea cable system will bring to the Philippines. For one, it will provide support for the expanding business requirement for data in the Mindanao region where the cable landing station is located and in the country as a whole. This will also ease our dependence on international cable systems and ensure the resiliency of the country’s internet connectivity,” said Ernest L. Cu, Globe President and CEO.
The facility also completely bypasses the Taiwan earthquake zone to ensure continuity of service and greater resiliency. This is expected to prevent a repeat of a 2006 incident where major international cables were broken because of the Taiwan earthquake, resulting in the isolation of the Philippines for a few days in terms of internet connectivity.
“On behalf of the Philippine Government, we congratulate Globe Telecom for further improving the state of Internet connectivity in the Philippines. The launching of this SEA-US cable system underscores the importance of integrating ICT in the improvement of government service delivery. We look to this Globe and SEA-US project being of help to government in realizing its ICT roadmap,” said Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salalima.
The 14,500-kilometer SEA-US international cable system, uses the latest 100 gigabits per second transmission technology to deliver an additional 20 terabits per second capacity. Such additional capacity will cater to the exponential growth of bandwidth between the two continents.
The system was built by a consortium of 7 international telecommunications companies and links five areas and territories that include Manado (Indonesia), Davao (Philippines), Piti (Guam), Oahu (Hawaii, United States), and Los Angeles (California, United States).
Aside from forming part of the SEA-US consortium, Globe is also a member of an international consortium operating the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable (SJC) system, an 8,900-kilometer cable system linking seven territories that include Brunei, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines, including the option to link with Thailand.
Globe Telecom also has investments in the East Asia Cable system (EAC), Asia Pacific Cable Network-2 (APCN2), Tata Global Network–Intra Asia cable system (TGN-IA), and the City to City cable system (C2C). It is interconnected with major Trans-Pacific Cable systems that encompass the Unity, Tata Global Network-Pacific, (TGN-P) and the Japan-US Cable Network (J-US).