The East Asia to North America Consortium (E2A), an international submarine cable group comprising SoftBank Corp, SK Broadband, Chunghwa Telecom and Verizon Business Global, selected Alcatel Submarine Networks to initiate construction of a trans-pacific fibre network connecting Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the US.

The 12,400km cable system is expected to be completed in H2 2028 and significantly expand digital capabilities across the Pacific. It will have landing stations in Toucheng, Taiwan; Busan, Korea; Chiba prefecture, Japan; and Moro Bay in the US.

In a joint statement, the operators noted as demand driven by AI cloud computing, data processing and next-gen mobile networks surges, the need for ultra-high-capacity, low-latency infrastructure has never been greater.

Teruyuki Oya, head of SoftBank’s Mobile and Network Division, added as “we enter an era where AI is being fully implemented, the importance of international submarine cables connecting not only Japan and the US but also major parts of Asia as arteries of information is increasing”.

The submarine cable will feature 12 fibre pairs, with a data processing capacity of more than 192TB/s.