NEC completes SKR1M 100Gbps submarine cable in Malaysia

By Digital News Asia September 22, 2017

The new submarine cable system spans over 3,800 kilometres
It is upgradable to 12.8 terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity

NEC completes SKR1M 100Gbps submarine cable in Malaysia

NEC Corporation on Sept 21 announced the completion of the Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia (SKR1M) 100 gigabit per second (Gbps) submarine cable linking Peninsular Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak.

SKR1M was established through a public-private partnership (PPP) collaboration between Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and the Malaysian government through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). TT dotCom Sdn Bhd (TTdC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of TIME dotCom Bhd (TIME) also funded and owns a portion of this submarine cable.

SKR1M was built with the objective of enhancing the existing domestic submarine cable connectivity between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, thus catering for future bandwidth growth requirements.

The new submarine cable system spans over 3,800 kilometres and lands at six landings, namely, Kuantan, Mersing, Kuching, Bintulu, Miri, and Kota Kinabalu. It is upgradable to 12.8 terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity.

Mohd Salleh Keruak, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia said, "This new submarine cable system is part of the government's initiatives via MCMC to increase the capacity of high-speed broadband and data traffic between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak.

“This is among the measures which the government is undertaking to improve the socio-economic status of people in Sabah and Sarawak through ICT adoption and broadband connectivity and was mentioned by our honourable Prime Minister during the tabling of the 2014 budget. Thus, I am delighted that today, this goal has become a reality."

NEC Corporation executive vice president Atsuo Kawamura said, "NEC has been active in the submarine cable system business for more than 40 years, and in 1980, NEC supplied Malaysia with its first domestic coaxial submarine cable system.

“NEC has laid a total of more than 250,000 kilometers of cable -- the equivalent of six trips around the earth's equator, and we are now recognised as one of the world's top submarine cable vendors.

“On this occasion, I would like to extend my congratulations to MCMC and TM, and my heart-felt thanks for yet again selecting NEC as your partner to build SKR1M. I sincerely hope that our partnership will be further enhanced, and be given the next opportunity to contribute to the various regions of Malaysia."