Taiwan regulator sets foundation for new Taiwan-China submarine cable

Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC) amendment of its wireline telecom industry regulations will help pave the way for Taiwan and China  to build a submarine cable linking the two countries.

According to a Taiwan Economic News report, the NCC's new wireline regulations could be put into action by the end of this year, while work on the submarine cable across the Taiwan Straits could start in mid-2011. Despite the fact that service providers have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to work on various network projects, Taiwan's regulations have been a sticking point.  

There are three notable submarine cable projects on the table worth noting that will connect the two countries.

These include Taiwan Mobile Company's plan to build a cable that would connect Fanshan in southern Taiwan to Shantou in China's Guangdong Province; Far EasTone's (FET) proposed a plan to build a submarine cable in partnership with China Mobile; and a joint plan by hatched last June by China Telecom and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom spend about $14.6 million on a cable extending from Xiamen, China, to Taiwan's Kinmen Island.

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

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