VSNL to connect India, Singapore

HONG KONG: Telecom services carrier Asia Netcom said it will provide the landing site in Singapore for an undersea cable being built from India by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), India's leading provider of overseas calls services.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 3,175-km Tata Indicom India-Singapore cable will run from the southern Indian city of Chennai to Singapore, and will be ready for service by the fourth quarter, the companies said.

The cable, first announced in November, would have an initial capacity of 320 Gbps, with the ability to scale up to its design capacity of 5.12 Tbps. It would have an estimated lifespan of 25 years.

The deal would provide direct access to the fast-growing India market for Asia Netcom, which was assembled from the assets of the former Asia Global Crossing and is now the main international asset of China's No 2 fixed-line carrier China Netcom.

© Reuters