Global consortium, NEC begin construction of $250M SEA-US Cable System
20Tb/s capacity to serve bandwidth growth in SE Asia, U.S.
A global consortium of telecommunications companies, formed to build and operate the South-East Asia - United States
(SEA-US) submarine cable system, officially announced the start of construction for the landmark project, the first to
directly connect Indonesia and the United States. NEC Corporation and NEC Corporation of America are the system
suppliers for the US $250 million project that is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The SEA-US system will link the five areas and territories of Manado in Indonesia, Davao in Southern Philippines; Piti
in the territory of Guam; as well as Honolulu (on the island of Oahu), Hawaii; and Los Angeles, California in the
continental U.S. The system will be approximately 15,000 kilometers in length, stretched along a unique route and has
been designed and engineered to bypass earthquake prone areas in East Asia, thereby providing a strategic diversity in
the range of connectivity to transpacific networks with ensured stable connectivity.
The cable system will provide an initial 20 terabit per second (Tb/s) capacity, with state-of-the-art 100 Gigabit per
second (Gb/s) technology. This capacity will help to meet the exponentially growing demand for bandwidth between
Southeast Asia and North America in unparalleled performance, especially for those two ASEAN countries. With further
connectivity using existing and planned submarine cable systems in the region, other countries such as Singapore,
Malaysia, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, and Australia can enjoy the benefit of the SEA-US
The SEA-US consortium consists of PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), Globe Telecom, RAM Telecom
International (RTI), Hawaiian Telcom, Teleguam Holdings (GTA), GTI Corporation (a member of the Globe Telecom group of
companies) and Telkom USA.
Syarif Syarial Ahmad, President Director of Telin stated, “This cable construction is significant as it is one of the
biggest milestones for Indonesia’s rapid growth in communications and it demonstrates Telin’s commitment to providing
Indonesia consumers with state of the art global infrastructure development. Our objective is now closer with SEA-US
given that it is the first cable system with direct connection from Indonesia to USA, where most of the Internet’s
content is sourced.”
The frequent use of high bandwidth internet in Indonesia is ranging from business, where video conference is highly
utilized in many offices, as well as entertainment, where video and TV streaming have become part of casual activities
of Indonesians.
Gil Genio, Globe Telecom Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer pointed out that, “The SEA-US project will
enable Globe to play a major role in providing superior connectivity for consumers and businesses in the Philippines to
connect to the U.S. Our link-up with the SEA-US cable system will serve the exponential growth of mobile Internet use in
our country, enabling the Filipino digital lifestyle and wonderful experience for our customers and businesses.”
He added that, “this development will also benefit the outsourcing and offshoring industry, including major contact
centers, business process outsourcing providers, global financial institutions and a host of other multinationals that
require very large bandwidth as the Philippines has become the preferred destination for these companies.”
Russ Matulich, Chief Executive Officer of RTI stated, “SEA-US will enable RTI to meet the diverse needs of
telecommunications carriers, large multinational enterprises, content providers and government entities looking to
connect over 1.5 billion business and consumers in the Southeast Asia region. RTI is proud to work with industry leading
partners to build what will be the fastest cable connecting Southeast Asia with the United States. SEA-US's essential
Asia-US route diversity, lower latency and onward connectivity options via Hawaii and Guam will enable RTI to offer
unmatched services to transpacific connectivity customers."
“Today’s announcement signals the beginning of a truly vital project that will facilitate economic opportunity and
growth for Hawaii’s residents and businesses,” said Eric K. Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom’s president and CEO. “Hawaii is no
different from the rest of the world in its need and desire for more bandwidth and the SEA-US system will ensure our
trans-Pacific capacity needs are met both now and well into the future.”
Robert Haulbook, GTA president and chief executive officer, says, “GTA is excited about this consortium. With this
system, collectively, we are well positioned to meet the growing demand for increased bandwidth and strengthening our
position to enhance overall network redundancy. Guam plays a vital role, and we look forward to SEA-US meeting capacity
needs of all users in our areas.”
Naoki Yoshida, General Manager of NEC’s Submarine Network Division, said that “as one of the world’s top vendors of
submarine cable systems, NEC is honored to begin construction on this new 100G trans-oceanic submarine cable system that
will span nearly 15,000 kilometers. This cable promises to expand connectivity and capacity as well as contribute to the
economies of Southeast Asia and the U.S. The construction of this advanced system enables NEC to capitalize on more than
40 years of experience, laying over 200,000 kilometers of submarine cable infrastructure and contributing to worldwide
communications. Through this undertaking, NEC will continue to dedicate its strength to the development of
telecommunication infrastructure in these regions and other countries across the globe.”
ENDS