Terrestrial cable line launched
By Chen Zhiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-15 08:46

China Unicom Corp (China Unicom) announced yesterday the launch of a terrestrial optical cable network connecting China, Mongolia and Russia.

In a joint effort with Mongolian Railcom and Russian TransTeleCom Company, the cable is 7,500 kilometres long and is said to be the shortest terrestrial cable link between mainland Europe and Asia.

By adopting Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) technology, the capacity for the first phase of the cable is expected to reach 622 megabits per second (mb/s), according to Tian Wenke, general manager of the Data and Fixed Communications Department of China Unicom.

Currently about 155 Mb/s have already been put into use, he said.

With a comparatively shorter distance compared with other terrestrial cables, shorter time delays are possible for new businesses that are time-sensitive, Tian said.

The cable network connecting China and Mongolia was built by China Unicom.

Before the launch, international business had been conducted mainly through satellite networks and submarine cable networks, but with the new terrestrial system, business with more European and Asian countries will be facilitated.

"The terrestrial cable network and submarine cable networks are complementary to each other and help enhance the reliability of the networks," Tian said.

"I believe with the launch of the terrestrial cable network, much business that used to rely heavily on submarine cables or satellite will be transferred to the new cable network," he said.

Telecom businesses based on optical cable networks usually consist of IP phones, data transmission and Internet-based services.

Tian believes that the launch of the cable will be conducive to China Unicom's international business as it provides a new alternative.

"It's a win-win deal for both China, Mongolia and Russia as the cable is going to meet the increasing demand for data transmission and telecom demand along with enhanced economic co-operation between the three countries and Europe and Asia."

According to Tian, China Unicom also plans to launch a similar terrestrial cable soon extending to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We have obtained the licence from regulators, but we don't have an exact timeline," he said.

In another development, China United Telecommunications Corp Ltd, a listing arm of China Unicom in the domestic A-share market, announced last Saturday that it is going to raise 6 billion yuan (US$722 million) through share placements.

The company posted last month a net profit of 2.33 billion yuan (US$280 million), up 6.3 per cent from the previous year.

It reported revenues for its main businesses last year, which reached 59.8 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion), up 31.2 per cent from a year earlier.

Pre-tax profits for 2003 stood at 24.8 billion yuan (US$2.98 billion), registered a growth of 7.5 per cent from the previous year.

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