KUALA LUMPUR: TM Global solidified its commitment to advancing Malaysia's digital landscape by announcing its recent participation as a consortium member of the Asia Link Cable System(ALC).

This strategic move positions Malaysia as one of the key destinations connecting Malaysia to Hong Kong, said TM Global, which is the domestic and international wholesale business arm of Telekom Malaysia Bhd, in a statement today.

TM Global's entry into the consortium was made official during the signing of the Construction andMaintenance Agreement with all consortium members in Penang recently.

The current seven members from the ASEAN and North Asia regions include SingaporeTelecommunications Limited (Singtel); China Telecom Global Limited (CTG); China Telecommunications Corporation (CTC); Globe Telecom (Globe) and DITO Telecommunity Corporation (DITO) of the Philippines, Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN) of Brunei and Global Transit Singapore Pte. Ltd (GTS).

"Our inclusion in the ALC consortium marks another milestone in TM Global's ongoing efforts to position Malaysia as a digital hub in the region.

"Leveraging our strategic location, the ALC is expected to attract more international submarine cables to land in Malaysia and entice global technology players to leverage our data centres," said TM Global's covering executive vice-president Khairul Liza Ibrahim.

She said this would also enable TM Global to better support the deployment of hyperscalers' data centres, and deliver to the future requirements of 5G networks in the country.

Spanning a total distance of 7,200 kilometres with an initial design capacity of 24Tbps, the Cable Landing Station (CLS) for ALC would be located at TM Exchange Kuala Sedili and will capitalise on its proximity to TM's Iskandar Puteri data centre in Johor.

The Sedili CLS is the sixth international CLS in the country, including Kuala Muda, Morib, Mersing, Cherating and Melaka.

Its construction is projected to be completed by 2025.

According to the statement, the ALC would significantly boost the data-transfer capacity of TM Global's existing submarine cable systems, catering to the increasing bandwidth demands across the ASEAN and North Asia regions.

Furthermore, the ALC adopts an open cable system design that is adaptable and compatible with various technologies and upgrades.

"This better positions TM Global and other consortium members to address the growing bandwidth demand for higher data capacity," it said.

With 32 owned and leased submarine cable systems spanning more than 340,000 kilometres around the globe, TM Global is committed to providing the highest service performance and best quality experience to customers domestically and internationally, the statement added.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2023/09/955298/tm-global-joins-alc-system-consortium-boost-submarine cable-capacity