RCom, China Telecom lay first terrestrial cable

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Reliance Communications (RCom) and Chinese state-owned China Telecom launched a terrestrial broadband cable transmission system between China and India.

Laid between Siliguri in India and Yadong in China via Nathu La, the terrabit capacity cable passes through difficult terrains, sub-zero temperature and touches an altitude of around 14,500 ft above sea level.

The 239km of cable on the Indian side runs from Siliguri in West Bengal via Gorobathan, Rishi and Padamchin to the border crossing at Nathu La, altitude 4310metres, and 230kms from the Tibetan capital Lhasa. Previously, connectivity between the two countries was through undersea cable routes via Hong Kong or Singapore.

Donald Tan, president, China Telecom Americas, said: "We are very pleased with the increased dedicated bandwidth availability, connection speed and security this cable will provide. By providing the direct connection between the two largest developing nations in the world, it will promote the growth of political, cultural and business relationships between China and India and the other South Asian countries, contributing to increased prosperity in the region. It also contributes to the implementation of 'The Five Year Plan for Full Economic and Trade Cooperation' between China and India"

The cable system, with an initial capacity of 20G and carries DWDM and SDH transmission, with a cable capacity design of 4.8 Terabits.

It will also provide connectivity to South East Asia, Japan and the US (west coast) via the terrestrial cable system to Hong Kong and then on a submarine route, enabling lower latency and improved network resilience.