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Giant Cable System For Southeast Asia
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, May 22 (IslamOnline) - Two weeks ago, telecom players in the ASEAN region, minus Malaysia, discussed the laying of a new giant cable system linking Singapore, Jakarta and Australia.
The idea is to catch up with growing demands for broadband technology in the Asia-Pacific region, sources said.
The decision to work together on the project and bring in the latest high end Internet technology to the three countries has been welcomed by Internet savvy citizens within the region.
IslamOnline, on a recent tour to Singapore, was told that the island nation already had an excellent record in existing broadband technology penetration.
More than 30% of Internet accounts in Singapore are broadband accounts, a situation that ranks Singapore first in the world with high broadband subscription rates.
Singapore is the world's fastest country for growing broadband usage in the world, even faster than the United States, where the usage of broadband reaches less than 10% of the Internet population.
In Singapore, it is also cheaper to have broadband applications than anywhere else in the world, IslamOnline was told.
"It is also cheap, affordable, for Singaporeans considering their earnings. Fifty dollars or $100 a month is not a big deal for many Singaporeans, though some are still waiting for the rental price to be lowered in the future," a cyber café operator told IslamOnline.
Situated on Bencoolen Street, a once popular backpackers thoroughfare, the cyber café draws a strong clientele of students, foreigners and executives eager to try the Internet at real time broadband speed.
"Even though most of our customers are gamers, we do have a strong broadband connection," The operator said.
Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), Cable and Wireless Optus and Telecom Corp of New Zealand are planning to meet demand in the region for years to come.
Plans for the submarine cable call for it to connect throughout Australia and the Asia-Pacific region via the carriers' existing networks.
SingTel alone has already invested more than $2 billion in the undersea cable project in order to make broadband available to all Singapore citizens.
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