NEC tapped to build BtoBE subsea cable connecting Frisco and HK

BtoBE
Image credit: NEC

The Bay to Bay Express Cable System (BtoBE) consortium – which includes China Mobile International, Facebook and Amazon Web Services – has signed an agreement with NEC to build a submarine cable connecting Singapore, Hong Kong and the US.

Construction of the nearly 16,000-kilometer optical submarine cable is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020.

BtoBE features multiple pairs of optical fiber and promises trans-Pacific round trip latency of less than 130 milliseconds. The consortium says the system will further enhance and contribute to the expansion of communications networks between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau ‘Greater Bay Area’, San Francisco Bay Area and Singapore.

“The BtoBE, landing at three locations spanning across the Pacific Ocean, is designed so that once completed, it can carry at least 18 Tbps of capacity per fiber pair,” said Toru Kawauchi, general manager of the Submarine Network Division at NEC. “The BtoBE will provide seamless connectivity and network diversity, while serving to complement other Asia-Pacific submarine cables, among others.”

NEC also claims the cable will be the first optical fiber submarine cable system that covers the longest distance without regeneration.

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