NEC to build India-Singapore subsea cable link with OLL

Mumbai: Japan-based NEC Corp. and Singapore-based Orient Link Pte. Ltd (OLL) announced that they have signed an agreement to build the MIST Cable System (Myanmar/Malaysia India Singapore Transit). MIST will directly connect Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and India (Mumbai and Chennai) and deliver a design capacity of more than 216 terabits per second (tbps). Construction of the nearly 8,100-km optical submarine cable is targeted to be completed by the third quarter of FY2022.

The Asia region has experienced accelerated digital investment driven by data centred growth, the proliferation of mobile, 5G services and business expansion of digital platforms, such as internet, e-commerce and cloud services for enterprises. These advancements have contributed to an increasing amount of data traffic across submarine cables. MIST will further enhance and contribute to the much-needed expansion of communications networks from Asia, thereby improving network redundancy, ensuring highly reliable communications and expanding onward connectivity options in the Bay of Bengal.

Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 2,313-km submarine optical fibre cable project that will connect Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and boost 4G services on the islands.