TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信), Taiwan's largest telecommunications company, alongside several international partners, announced the completion and activation of the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) on Friday (July 18), heralding a transformative advancement in digital infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region. The ambitious undersea cable project represents a joint investment by multiple telecommunications operators from various Asian nations and has been designed specifically to bolster network stability while meeting surging demand for high-bandwidth applications that have become increasingly central to the digital economy, including artificial intelligence systems, cloud computing platforms, and the rapidly expanding Internet of Things ecosystem.
The newly operational SJC2 submarine cable system extends approximately 10,500 kilometers beneath the ocean floor, creating vital digital connections between major economic and technological hubs throughout Southeast and Northeast Asia, including Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Korea, and Japan. Taiwan's telecommunications infrastructure receives particular enhancement through the cable's innovative dual landing configuration at Tamsui (淡水) in the northern region and Fangshan (枋山) along the southern coast, a design strategically implemented to significantly strengthen the diversity and resilience of the island's external network connectivity by establishing geographically separated entry points that avoid common points of failure.
In materials distributed to the press, Chunghwa Telecom emphasized the technological sophistication of the SJC2 system, which incorporates cutting-edge optical wavelength multiplexing technology capable of delivering an impressive transmission bandwidth of 126 Tbps (terabits per second). This remarkable data capacity constitutes a significant leap forward in network connectivity capabilities throughout the Asia-Pacific region, where digital traffic continues to grow exponentially. Industry analysts view the activation of this advanced submarine cable as further confirmation of the region's increasingly pivotal position within the global digital infrastructure ecosystem, particularly as the new system delivers expanded geographical coverage, unprecedented bandwidth capacity, and critically important ultra-low latency connections essential for time-sensitive applications.
Chunghwa Telecom Chairman Alex C. C. Chien (簡志誠) underscored the strategic significance of the SJC2 project within the company's comprehensive "sea, land, star, and sky" infrastructure development framework, an integrated approach designed to substantially strengthen Taiwan's digital resilience across its telecommunications networks. Chien noted that the company's infrastructure investments extend beyond the newly activated cable, as Chunghwa Telecom has already secured participation in the forthcoming Asia United Gateway East submarine cable system, an additional undersea network that will establish crucial connections between Taiwan, South Korea, and multiple Southeast Asian countries when completed, with an anticipated launch date in late 2029. ◼
