Telecom Lead Asia: Cloud services provider NTT
Communications will kick off operation of the Asia Submarine-cable Express
(ASE).
The 40-gigabit-per-second (Gbps), low latency undersea
cable connecting major cities in Asia on August 20 is expected to improve NTT
Com’s network services by enhancing the capacity and strengthening the
redundancy of its Asian cable networks.
ASE will incorporate 100 Gbps optical technology.
The network will launch with a total carrying capacity
exceeding 15 terabits per second (Tbps), a total length of about 7,800 km,
and special designs to withstand earthquake and typhoon damage.
Apparently, NTT Com is the major investor in the cable
system.
Malaysia-based Telekom Malaysia, Philippines-based PLDT
and Singapore-based StarHub have cooperated in the construction.
The cable has landing points in Japan, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Malaysia, and will add Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2013.
The route between Japan and Singapore covers the shortest
distance to maximize reliability and minimize latency.
The direct connection enables customers in Serangoon Data
Center in Singapore and the Hong Kong Financial Data Centre to use NTT Com’s
network, data centers and cloud services on an end-to-end, one-stop basis.
On August 20, 2012, NTT Com will offer an enhanced global
leased line service, by incorporating ASE’s low-latency routes into its
existing Arcstar Global Leased Line Service. The new service leverages ASE’s
Japan-Singapore connection with latency of less than 65 milliseconds latency,
more than 3 milliseconds faster than routes via other subsea cables.
Existing US-Japan routes also will be used, including the
NTT Com’s own PC-1 cable which offers the lowest latency connection between Tokyo
and Chicago, home of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Superior service between
Asia and the U.S. is especially attractive for financial enterprises, such as
high-frequency trading firms that issue huge numbers of buy/sell orders for
financial products and must transmit such information instantaneously.
This month, NTT Com will incorporate ASE into the
backbone of its Tier-1 global IP network, which directly connects the world’s
major internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers, and, in the near
future, will do the same for Arcstar Universal One, its scalable, cloud-based
network service.
