TIME dotCom Berhad announced on April 15 its participation in the AAE-1 cable consortium and the AAE-1 C&MA has come into force as of April 15, 2014. And it was reported that TIME dotCom will invest USD 44 million in the AAE-1 submarine cable system, including a landing station and 1.88 Tbps of capacity on the system. TIME dotCom didn't show up at the AAE-1 C&MA signing ceremony hosted in Hong Kong on January 27, 2014.
The AAE-1 will deploy 100Gbps technology, with a designed capacity of more than 40 terabits. With a length of 25,000 kilometres, the cable system will run from south east Asia to Africa and Europe through Egypt, connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand , Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Qatar, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Italy and France.
“This is a significant component of our global expansion plans,” said TIME’s Chief Executive Officer Afzal Abdul Rahim. “Our global network will span Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Japan and the United States.”
“Our investment in AAE-1 is strategic for a number of reasons,” added Afzal. “It demonstrates our ongoing commitment towards improving connectivity between Malaysia and the rest of the world, and adds further resilience to our global networks.”
TIME ‘s existing submarine cable investments include a stake in the highly-sought after Unity Cable System that connects Japan and the US, and the Asia-Pacific Gateway (APG), that links Malaysia to Korea and Japan, expected to be completed next year.
According to TIME dotCom, AAE-1's landing in Myanmar was first released in a formal public press.