BEIJING, June 15 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities have approved an undersea cable link designed to increase Internet access speeds in northern China, state media reports.
Asia Netcom, the international cable subsidiary of fixed-line telephone operator China Netcom, will operate the new 160-mile line stretching from the port of Qingdao in Shandong province with its regional submarine network links to Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. It is scheduled to be operational in early 2006.
William Barney, president and COO at Asia Netcom, was quoted saying cable capacity of 80 gigabits per second will bring a noticeable improvement in Internet access speeds to Web sites in the region as well as to North America for subscribers in north China.
Analysts say networks in China are strained by a combination of growing numbers of Internet users and the popularity of data-intensive services including video downloads and online game playing. Asia Netcom says the mainland's consumption of international bandwidth soared 170 percent between 2003 and 2004.
