TIME joins consortium for AAE-1

PETALING JAYA: TIME dotCom Bhd has joined a consortium to build a new submarine cable system that will link Asia and Europe via the Middle East, named Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1).
Together with 16 international service providers, TIME will construct and maintain the 25,000km submarine cable system with landing stations planned for Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece and France.
Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2014 and TIME's gross investment of US$44 million (which includes the Malaysian cable landing station) will see it securing 1.88Tbps of capacity in AAE-1 upon completion in 2016.
"This is a significant component of our global expansion plans. Our global network will span Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Japan and the United States," TIME CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim said in a statement yesterday.
The AAE-1 participation will also provide diversity for TIME's Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) submarine cable system capacity between Malaysia and Hong Kong.
The allocation of capacity to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam will further support TIME's regional expansion initiatives.
TIME expects to fund the investment in AAE-1 with internally generated funds and borrowings, if required.