Invader to Build Pacific Light Cable Network Connecting Hong Kong and the US

Nov. 16, 2015, Hong Kong, Pacific Light Data Comunication Co. Limited, a subsidiary of China Soft Power Technology Holding Limited (CSPT), and TE SubCom announced to build Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), a new submarine cable system directly connecting Hong Kong and the US. 

Few of telecom industry know Pacific Light Data Communication. The company was incorporated on October 19, 2015, as I found it later. And its parent company seems to have little business in telecom industry. This is a brand new player to the telecom game, an Invader.

It shocked me when I got the invitation for the event. I have been thinking who will be the next player to participate in submarine cable games. I though it might be Amazon, Hurricane Electric, Baidu, Alibaba or Tencent, which will follow Google, Facebook and Microsoft to invest in submarine cable systems. I never expected such an invader.

It is said CSPT made the decision to build Pacific Light Cable Network within less than two months. The cable system will be wholly invested and operated by CSPT. CSPT will build the Pacific Light Cable Network faster, faster and faster:

• Faster decision-making,
• Faster entering into market,
• Faster connectivity between Hong Kong and the US.

And here are some key features of the Pacific Light Cable Network:

• System design: 100G * 240 WL * 5 Fiber Pairs
• Cable landing sites: Hong Kong and Los Angeles
• Cable length: 12800 km
• Route: PoP to PoP
• Total investment: US$400M
• Ready for service: 2018

CSPT and Pacific Light Data Communication may change the rules of the submarine cable games.