The new Trans-Pacific Express submarine cable financed by telecom companies from China, Korea and USA has seen activation of its first phase. The first tests seem encouraging - the optic cable transmits data at speeds of 5.12 Terabits, which is almost its designed capacity. When the cable starts servicing the international data transfers, it will provide 6 Terabits speed.
The Trans-Pacific submarine fibre-optic cable is 18,000 kilometres long and will service USA, China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
The main investors are China NetCom, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Korea Telecom and Verizon Business.
So far the building of the Trans-Pacific Express will cost $500 million.
When completed, it will make international calls and telemarketing more convenient and possibly cheaper in the long run.
