NTT Ltd. announced it will start the construction of MIST, a large-capacity submarine cable connecting Singapore, Myanmar and India.

Per a press release and published reports, the MIST cable system will have a total length of 11,000 km, connecting the three countries, and will include capacity for future expansion. The construction of the submarine cable network in South East Asia is part of a strategic joint venture with Orient Link Pte. Ltd. (Orient Link), a strategic joint venture of NTT, JICT and WEN Capital.

The cable will have 12 fiber pairs and 240 Tbps capacity, able to transmit a six-hour high-definition video (approximately three movies) in one second. The cost for the project was estimated at approximately US$400 million. NTT aims to link its large-scale data centers in Singapore, Myanmar and India with the MIST cable system. Orient Link is expected to get additional funds for the MIST cable system from its anchor customers, which might include Google, and certain Chinese OTT players and operators.

NTT’s existing offerings through cable systems such as Asia Submarine Cable Express (ASE), Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), Pacific Crossing -1 (PC-1) and JUPITER Cable (under construction) provide global connectivity from Asia to the US. The MIST cable system, along with these existing offerings, will allow for NTT to grow its offering and expand into India and beyond.

NTT Ltd. was established in London on July 1, 2019 as the global operating company of NTT Corporation (NTT Group), the merger of 28 brands. On October 10, 2019, NTT Ltd. established Orient Link. Ownership is as follows: NTT (42%), JICT (38%) and WEN Capital (20%).