The giant undersea cable across the Pacific Ocean linking China and the United States has begun to be got ready and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of next year, Sina.com reported today, citing an insider of China Netcom.

Related readings:  Verizon, partners to build US-China optical cable

The 11,200-kilometer Trans-Pacific Express is being built jointly by China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Korea Telecom and the US-based Verizon Communication, with a total investment of US$500 million. It will be able to handle 60 times the business of the current cable.

The ongoing cable system has adopted advanced cable transferring technologies, which could directly connect the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States, said China Netcom.

The Sino-US cable will greatly boost the net speed between the two countries, reduce the risk of cable damage and hopefully will ensure a clear live broadcasting via TV and Internet during the Beijing Olympics next year upon its completion.

Beijing Olympics will be held from August 8 to 24 next year.

To meet the demand during Beijing Olympics, China Telecom and China Netcom are stepping up improvements in their international cable layout. The capability of China Netcom totaled 135 gigabits, while the Internet bandwidth reached 122 gigabits a second.

China Netcom also set up three landing site for undersea cables in Qingdao, Shandong Province and Shanghai's Nanhui District.

The new line will be constructed to avoid the Luzon Strait, an earthquake belt over the Pacific, to avoid similar incidents like the several weeks of Internet breakdowns with other parts of the world caused by the December 26 earthquake off Taiwan.

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