NEC announced a contract signing with a consortium led by Singtel to develop the Asia United Gateway East (AUG East), a new 8,900 km intra-Asian subsea cable system connecting Singapore and Japan with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan. The consortium includes major partners such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Arteria Networks, Chunghwa Telecom, Dreamline, Globe Telecom, Telekom Malaysia, and Unified National Networks.
AUG East will be a high-count fibre pair system designed to deliver unprecedented bandwidth capacity, meeting growing demand for AI-driven network traffic across the Asia-Pacific region. According to NEC, it will enhance resiliency and support the surge in digital and generative AI applications expected to surpass conventional traffic by 2031.
Alan Tan, chairperson of the Asia United Gateway Cable Management Committee and Singtel’s director of submarine cable planning, emphasized the importance of this infrastructure investment in advancing digital inclusion and accelerating economic growth throughout Asia. The cable system is slated for completion by Q3 2029.
