Chunghwa Telecom enhances connectivity to Asia with Southeast Asia-Japan 2 (SJC2) submarine cable

TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 15, 2018 - Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (TAIEX: 2412, NYSE: CHT) (“Chunghwa” or “the Company”) and the members of the Southeast Asia – Japan 2 (SJC2) consortium signed an agreement with NEC Corporation to build a high performance submarine cable connecting Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Korea and Japan.

The latest submarine cable to be constructed by Chunghwa Telecom, the 10,500-kilometre cable has links to eleven cable landing stations in the region and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020.

The cable will feature up to eight pairs of high capacity optical fibre with a total capacity of 144 Terabits per second. Its high capacity allows it to support high bandwidth intensive requirements such as the Internet of Things, robotics, analytics and artificial or virtual reality applications.

“The SJC2 cable is constructed at the right time as we are targeting to realize pre-commercial operation of 5G networks in 2020. We expect to rely on SJC2’s fast and reliable transmission capability to support upcoming numerous multimedia applications of 5G services. That’s why we believe this cable will lay a solid foundation for the economic position of Taiwan in global business for the years to come.” said Mr. Yu Cheng, Chairman and CEO of Chunghwa Telecom. “The construction of SJC2 cable not only strengthens the connectivity but also deepens our close cooperation relationship among the countries in Asia, especially as our government is promoting the New Southbound Policy,” he added.

The SJC2 will be built and operated by a global consortium comprising telecommunications and technology companies, including China Mobile International, Chunghwa Telecom, Chuan Wei, Facebook, KDDI, SK Broadband, Singtel, and VNPT.

Mr Chih-Cheng Chien, President of International Business Group of Chunghwa Telecom said,

“Our double landing design in both Tanshui and Fangshan of SJC2 will strongly consolidate our network reliability of Asia region and network security of Taiwan. This new cable will complement the earlier established APG and together provides the most robust connectivity, low latency and various network diversities for customers in current booming era of telecommunication.”

Chunghwa Telecom, as continuously being the leading information and communications technology service provider of Taiwan and global telecommunications, takes the responsibility to bring the best data and communication service to customers all over the world. Having Asia-Pacific Gateway (APG) and New Cross Pacific (NCP) cables both landed at Toucheng, Chunghwa Telecom decides to further diversify cable landing locations as they construct SJC2 at Tanshui and Fangshan to enhance Taiwan’s national network security. Right after investing the New Cross Pacific (NCP) cable which provides direct connectivity from Asia to North America in the Trans-Pacific region, CHT intensifies their network capability in Asia by constructing the SCJ2 cable, which is expected to serve as the multimedia superhighway in the near future.