CAT, Chinese firm agree framework for inter-regional broadband link
CHINA TELECOM Global and CAT Telecom have signed an investment framework for a land- and water-borne high-speed broadband project to link China and Southeast Asia.
Both parties will now seek partners and strategic alliances for the new project, Uttama Savanayana, the Thai minister of information and communications technology, said yesterday.
CAT and China Telecom will form a joint venture very soon, which should begin with the land part of the cable this year, he said.
CAT will invest about Bt3 billion in this project. Its return will come from its share of profit based on the JV ratio.
The inter-regional Internet system will link Asean nations with mainland China by originating in Hong Kong, then passing through Thailand, Laos and the other counties in the CLMV subregion (Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam) before swinging upwards back to China.
Currently, more than 90 per cent of Internet streaming overseas has to go down to Singapore and Malaysia before reaching destinations even in China, but the project is expected to cut the distance, and that will reduce expenses.
The submarine cable in the |second phase of the project will facilitate maritime communication in east China and Southeast Asia, Uttama said.
