Ezecom, Telekom Malaysia team up for new submarine cable

Cambodian internet service provider (ISP) Ezecom has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Telekom Malaysia to construct a 1,425km submarine cable system between the two countries, in a bid to bring more affordable and better quality internet services to Cambodia. The Phnom Penh Post reports that the planned fibre-optic cable would also connect to the 20,000km Asia-America Gateway (AAG), which links Southeast Asia to the US. Construction of the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) cable is scheduled to begin in September or October this year, and the link is expected to be operational by the end of 2014. The cost of MCT has been estimated at around USD80 million. ‘The MCT cable will take us to the next stage of development, faster, more cost effectively,’ Ezecom CEO Paul Blanche-Horgan said. ‘Right now, we will have to go via Thailand or Vietnam to hook in to the AAG cable… The MCT cable will allow us direct access.’ In May 2011 Ezecom acquired fibre-optic company Telcotech, which has a stake in the AAG submarine cable network.