NTT Data, Sumitomo and JA Mitsui Leasing announced plans for a new subsea cable, dubbed Intra-Asia Marine Cable (I-AM Cable), that will connect Japan and South Korea to Malaysia and Singapore.
To that end, the three companies have jointly established a new company, Intra-Asia Marine Networks Co., Ltd. (I-AM NW), to construct and operate the 8,100-km cable system, which is expected to cost around US$1 billion.
NTT Data said the I-AM Cable will utilise wavelength selective switch (WSS) technology so that the wavelength bandwidth of each route can be remotely adjusted to respond to traffic demand.
The cable will also leverage space division multiplexing (SDM) technology, enabling it to accommodate up to 16 fibre pairs per cable for a total initial capacity of around 320 Tbps.
The I-AM Cable will initially have three landing points in Japan, and single landing points in Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea. The design allows for branches to be routed to Taiwan and the Philippines.
Yoshio Sato, CEO of the new I-AM NW venture, said the new system will support Asia-Pacific’s growing digital infrastructure, as well as provide robust resilience against natural disasters in the region.
The I-AM Cable is planned to be ready for service in early fiscal year 2029.
