Could two new undersea internet cable routes planned for 2023 or early 2024 offer Vietnam relief from its international connectivity issues?
According to news website VietNamNet, two new undersea internet cables, called the ADC and the SJC2, are expected to come into use either later this year or by early 2024.
They will be jointly operated by Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and Viettel.
The SJC2 is also known as the South East Asia – Japan 2 Cable System. With a length of 10,500 kilometres and a total capacity of 126Tbps and multiple investment partners, including Meta, KDDI and SingTel, it is due to begin operation later this year.
It will connect six countries and have 10 landing hubs, including the Vietnamese coastal city of Quy Nhon.
The ADC – or Asia Direct Cable – is nearly 9,800 kilometres long with a capacity of over 140Tbps. It will help to connect countries and territories throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Again it has been back by many investors, including Viettel in collaboration with such major names as Singtel, China Telecom, SoftBank, China Unicom, NT, PLDT, and TATA Communications.
The two new systems will bring the number of undersea cables available to Vietnam to seven.
The arrival of these two new cables probably can’t come a moment too soon for domestic ISPs. Earlier this month we reported that four of the five cable routes they use were experiencing issues, seriously affecting internet connection traffic from Vietnam.
At the time, the General Secretary of the Vietnam Internet Association, Vu The Binh, said that Vietnam needed at least two to three more undersea cable routes in the next five years to meet growing demand. It looks like he will get his wish.
