HKT to construct submarine cable system linking Tseung Kwan O and Chai Wan data centres

HKT, the largest telecommunications network operator in Hong Kong, plans to build a super high-capacity, submarine fibre-optic cable system that will connect Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate to Chai Wan from the second half of next year.

The proposed Ultra Express Link is expected to meet the rising demand from data centre operators in the city for more high-speed and high-capacity fibre-optic infrastructure, senior HKT executives told the South China Morning Post.

Alexander Arena, group managing director at HKT, said on Tuesday that development of the new metropolitan submarine cable system would bolster Hong Kong’s efforts to become a regional data centre hub.

“HKT is the only [telecommunications network] operator to provide full diversity with different options of cable route across Hong Kong,” Arena said. “We have full fibre coverage in all data centres in Hong Kong, particularly with diversity paths in all data centres in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.”

Measuring three kilometres long, the Ultra Express Link was designed to deliver fast and direct connectivity between the major data centres located at Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories and those at Chai Wan in Hong Kong island.

Peter Lam Wing-chap, the managing director of engineering at HKT, said the new cable system is the company’s most sophisticated fibre-optic project to date, but declined to provide the amount of investment being made.