Submarine cable project eyed

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines – East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Working Group on information and communications technology is eyeing the establishment of a submarine cable project linking the Philippines with the rest of its counterparts in the BIMP-EAGA including other Asian countries.

A notable Philippine telecommunications company, EA Trilink, had presented the idea and proposal including its convenient to the committee of having the system during a recent meeting held in Cagayan de Oro City, the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) said.

In a statement, MEDCo said the proposed project will link the Philippines with the proposed fiber optic links in the EAGA via Mindanao.

A joint study has been conducted by Malaysia’s Danawa Resources Sdn Bhd and SACOFA with PT Trans Hybrid of Indonesia to implement the proposed Kuching-Pontianak Fiber Optic Link, a 150-kilometer cable system project between Tebedu in Kuching and Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, MEDCo said.

Adding that a terrestrial fiber optic network is available from Sarawak through SACOFA to Sabah (CT-Sabah) via Brunei Darussalam through TelBru.

The network can further be connected to the rest of the world through the submarine cables SEA-ME-WE3 (SMW3) and Asia-America Gateway (AAG) in Tungku Cable Station (TelBru) Brunei Darussalam, the statement of MEDCo added.

MEDCo said EA Trilink will coordinate with other EAGA countries for their participation in the proposed BIMP-EAGA cable consortium.

The project is an opportunity to “develop a high-quality regional network business at a very low cost” and that it “fits with anticipated timing of the exhaustion of capacity from upgraded existing consortium cables,” EA Trilink said during their presentation in Cagayan de Oro.

The Working Group also discussed tariff rationalization with EA Trilink and its importance not only in border areas but BIMP-EAGA as a whole.