Hong-Kong-based Asia Netcom announced on January 15, 2007 that it plans to add a new trans-Pacific portion to its regional submarine cable system. The new 23,500 km infrastructure -- EAC Pacific -- will bypass the seismic belt near the Luzon Strait and extend the existing infrastructure with a new trans-Pacific ring with an expected 100 percent increase of the telecoms speed and throughput.

The project, scheduled to be completed by July 2008, consists of a northern route connecting Japan to the U.S., and a southern route linking the Philippines to the U.S. via Guam and Hawaii. Both of the routes will bypass the seismic belt between the Luzon Strait of the Philippines and south Taiwan of China. EAC Pacific will also include a subsea link between the Philippines directly with Japan, which will close the ring design and integrate the trans-Pacific infrastructure with the current system.

The recent hiccups in trans-Pacific Internet access and telecoms, following the severe earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on December 26, 2006 off the coast of southern Taiwan, highlight the urgent need for more diverse connectivity between Asia and the U.S. According to Bill Barney, Asia Netcom's Chief Executive Officer, EAC Pacific is designed to enhance the connectivity options and access security of the fast growing South Asian region and create a stable, dedicated expressway for that region to connect to the U.S. as well as Japan and North Asia.

EAC Pacific has clinched committed funds of $636 million through its partners, investors and debt holders to cover the building and peak funding requirements for the new system. The system, which will use a new innovative capital structure that is hybrid of the "traditional" club cable and a "private cable" structure, will be operational in July 2008.

The new EAC Pacific system, which will feature 4 fiber pairs, each capable of supporting a minimum design capacity of 2.56 Tbps using 64-wavelength DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) technology of transporting 10 Gbps per wavelength, is expected to boost the speed and throughput of the Asia-U.S. Internet and telecoms connectivity by at least 100 percent.

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