wiredInUSA April 2016

INDEX

Cambodian minister of posts and telecommunications Prak Sokhonn (L) exchanges documents with Huang Xinglong, chairman of the Cambodia Fiber Optic Communication Network (CFOCN), during a signing ceremony in Phnom Penh

Submarine “bridge” to Cambodia

Cambodia has granted a concessional contract to the Cambodia Fiber Optic Communication Network (CFOCN), a subsidiary of Shenzhen-based HyalRoute Group, to invest $69.7million in constructing and operating submarine cables and a landing station in southwestern Preah Sihanouk province. The contract was signed by Cambodian minister of posts and telecommunications Prak Sokhonn, and chairman of CFOCN Huang Xinglong. Kan Channmeta, secretary of state of the Cambodian ministry of posts and telecommunications, said the contract is in the form of BOOT (build-own-operate- transfer) with a period of 25 years before the company transfers the submarine cables and landing station to the government. “This project will contribute to increasing the percentage of Internet users in Cambodia from the current 45 percent, or 6.5 million people, to about 80 percent in 2020,” he

said in a press conference. “I’m confident that the project will significantly contribute to the development of information and communication technology inCambodia,” he continued. Channmeta said the submarine cables will have 1.8Tb per second capacity. HyalRoute Group said that the contract will move its on-going project of Asia- Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine cable Cambodia branch to the next stage of construction. The AAE-1 submarine cable, is expected to be the largest (25,000km) and newest cable to link major Asian, African, middle eastern and European nations via the lowest latency subsea route for over 15 years, a statement said. “Thus it is expected to significantly bridge the digital divide between Cambodia and developed areas in the world.”

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - April 2016

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