SK Broadband has announced plans to construct a new international subsea cable, named 'E2A' (East Asia To North America), connecting South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. This marks their second major subsea cable project, following the ongoing 'SJC2' cable aimed at linking various Asian countries.
The E2A consortium, which includes SK Broadband as the sole South Korean participant, along with Japan's SoftBank and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, will oversee the construction of the 12,500km trans-Pacific cable. It will connect key digital hubs in Busan (South Korea), Maruyama in Chiba Prefecture (Japan), Toucheng in Yilan County (Taiwan), and Morro Bay in California (USA).
Utilizing the latest transmission technology, the E2A cable will provide a data processing capacity of 16Tbps from Korea to the US. This capacity can support simultaneous UHD video streaming for 660,000 subscribers or the download of 500 full HD movies (4GB each) in just one second. The E2A subsea cable is expected to be completed and commercially available in the second half of 2028.
SK Broadband's earlier project, the 'SJC2' subsea cable, is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of this year. This cable will connect nine Asian countries (Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan) with a 10,500km undersea network.
The demand for international internet traffic has surged due to the increasing popularity of streaming services like YouTube and Netflix, and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The construction of the E2A cable, following the completion of SJC2, is expected to play a crucial role in distributing international traffic and ensuring network stability.
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