Deployment of the 20,000 km SEA-ME-WE 5 undersea cable, which will connect through African nation Djibouti, has started with the network expected to go live in early 2016.

Other connecting points of the 24 Terabit per second (Tbit/s) capacity cable are planned to include Italy, France, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

According to an announcement, Alcatel-Lucent has started construction of the Sri Lanka to France leg of the cable while co-contractor NEC is deploying the Singapore to Sri Lanka segment.

“With the rollout of the SEA-ME-WE 5 system, we will deliver a dynamic and agile way to serve end-users and offer them the quality of service they need,” said Linette Lee, the chairperson of the SEA-ME-WE 5 management committee.

“Alcatel-Lucent and NEC’s 100G undersea technology will help us in setting a new milestone in the further development of this route,” added Lee.

The consortium overlooking the SEA-ME-WE 5 deployment includes the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, (BSCCL), China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, China United Network Communications Group Company, Djibouti Telecom, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (PJSC), Orange, Myanma Posts and Telecommunications, Saudi Telecom Company, SingTel, Sri Lanka Telecom, TOT, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telekom Malaysia Berhad and Yemen International Telecommunications (TeleYemen).