Delegates from telecommunication sectors in the Asia region attended Myanmar Connect 2016 in Nye Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, in mid-September. As one of the delegates, CAT aims to expand into the neighbouring country’s market by investing in NNI (Network-to-Network Interface) with the leading Myanmar network to provide an IP service network. CAT is capable of providing MPLS, IP-VPN service that will run from Yangon, Myanmar’s main commercial city, through to Thailand’s Mae Sot in Tak province and Mae Sai in Chiang Rai province. The connection will take the form of a terrestrial network and a submarine cable network, SMW3 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3), that will land in the southern Thai province of Satun.
Among other partners, the leading Lao network provider has already connected NNI with CAT. With a view to supporting ASEAN economic growth as the region makes steady progress, the next step for CAT is to set up an NNI between Thailand and Cambodia which will be completed late this year.
CAT has invested and co-invested with business partners in ASEAN countries to create telecommunications networks and plan network development in terms of international hard infrastructure going forward.
Upcoming projects include developing terrestrial network connectivity among Indochina countries through networks in China and the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Information Superhighway Network (GMS-ISN. Research and development will also be conducted concerning the international network through the submarine cable system from the Gulf of Thailand to the Pacific Ocean and from the Andaman Sea to the Indian Ocean which will support the ASEAN Digital Hub concept. These projects will enrich telecom connectivity around the region and bolster its efficiency considerably. Thus it will support growing demand for digital data capacity that will help make Thailand the ASEAN digital hub.
CAT recently upgraded the service capacity of its Singapore Node to support increasing demand and the telecoms agency will also soon open an Internet Gateway Node. CAT also continuously upgrades its service capacity in Hong Kong, which constantly needs more bandwidth to connect with China and other countries.
Besides Myanmar Connect 2016, another significant conference that CAT has already attended this year is Asian Carriers Conference (ACC 2016) in Cebu, Philippines. These moves underscore and bolster CAT’s good relations with leading global service providers, thereby promoting wider cooperation in terms of service and technology development between partners throughout the region and beyond.
