LISTED fiber internet provider Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. said on Monday that it is taking part in a cable project that will carry traffic between Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
“Converge is a party to a construction and maintenance agreement, effective March 4, for the Southeast Asia-Hainan-Hongkong Express Cable System (Project SEA-H2X),” Converge said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.
The parties to the project are Converge, CMCC Infrastructure 3 Ltd., PP Telecommunication Sdn. Bhd., and China United Network Communications Group Co. Ltd.
The project aims to “address the tremendous growth of the telecommunications traffic between Southeast Asia and Hong Kong by building and implementing a state-of-the-art fiber-optic submarine cable system connecting Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Hainan China and Hong Kong SAR,” it added.
On the official website of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the fiber-optic submarine cable system project will initially connect Singapore and Hong Kong, then Hainan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.
There is also a proposal to link Cambodia and Indonesia.
Last year, Converge announced that it will invest more than $100 million in a new transpacific cable system aimed at increasing internet speeds and network diversity in the Philippines.
“Our investment in one full fiber pair, connecting us to Singapore and the west coast of North America, will allow us to independently activate at will up to 15Tbps (terabits per second) of capacity to either country using the latest technology,” Converge Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony H. Uy said in a statement.
Converge ICT shares closed 2.11% lower at P25.50 Monday. — Arjay L. Balinbin
