Pacnet addresses broadband demand in Asia

To add 3,600 Gbps of capacity across the region

Asia is experiencing growing demand for bandwidth and Pacnet is rising to the challenge by announcing the largest capacity upgrade to date.

The independent telecommunications service provider said it will accelerate upgrades on its wholly-owned subsea cable network EAC-C2C. The company aims to add an additional 3,600 Gbps of capacity across Asia.

Pacnet is focused on meeting customer demands and in April 2009 completed a phase of upgrades that included the addition of 3,200 Gbps of capacity to the subsea cable network.

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Asia is experiencing growing demand for bandwidth and Pacnet is rising to the challenge by announcing the largest capacity upgrade to date.

The independent telecommunications service provider said it will accelerate upgrades on its wholly-owned subsea cable network EAC-C2C. The company aims to add an additional 3,600 Gbps of capacity across Asia.

Pacnet is focused on meeting customer demands and in April 2009 completed a phase of upgrades that included the addition of 3,200 Gbps of capacity to the subsea cable network.

Bandwidth demand grows despite recession

Bill Barney, chief executive officer of Pacnet, said this tremendous growth in bandwidth demand is not only due to the expanding broadband population. The growing amount of digital content generated from Asia is also contributing to the increase in demand.

Pacnet has decided to bring forward its upgrade schedule by three months, and deliver its largest capacity upgrade to date, to meet this demand.

TeleGeography research director Alan Mauldin noted the increase in the demand for intra-Asian submarine cable capacity despite the global economic crisis. TeleGeography offers primary metrics and expert insight on global communications markets. The company expects demand for intra-Asia capacity to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 48 per cent between 2009 and 2015.

Mauldin also stressed the importance of Pacnet's investment in capacity upgrades for meeting the expanding capacity requirements in Asia.

"The projected increase in lit capacity requirements within the region will be driven by massive uptake of bandwidth-hungry applications such as video, the growing popularity of cloud computing and the rise of industry-specific requirements such as redundant, ultra-low latency connectivity demanded by stock exchanges and financial institutions," said Wilfred Kwan, chief technology officer of Pacnet.

Pacnet's latest network upgrades are targeted for completion by early 2011. Kwan said they aim to increase capacity across key network routes which connect Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

According to company's officials, Pacnet will also upgrade its terrestrial backhaul links between cable landing stations and its points of presence. This will help the company deliver city-to-city high-bandwidth connectivity around the region.