Hong Kong-based carrier services firm PCCW Global has banded together with 16 other high profile international network operators, including China Unicom, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat and Ooredoo, to construct a high capacity submarine cable system between Asia, Africa and Europe.

The AAE-1 will interconnect Hong Kong, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe with a target ready for service date in 2016 and claims to be the first high capacity cable system to link all of the major South East Asian nations to Africa and Europe via the Middle East.

PCCW Global plans to land the cable at the Cape D’Aguilar cable station in Hong Kong and then extend connectivity to a city data centre, making Hong Kong a key telecommunications hub in addition to Singapore and Marseille in France along the AAE-1 network.

The cable aims to facilitate and provide support for the unprecedented growth of Asia-Africa trade.

Alex Arena, PCCW parent HKT Group managing director, said: “Our investment in AAE-1 will further enhance our position in Hong Kong as a regional telecommunications hub, and will also improve the ability of PCCW Global’s international cable network to withstand natural disasters such as the massive earthquakes which have occurred in the region over the past few years.”

The Broadband Asia conference is taking place on the 29th-30th April 2014 at the Suntec, Singapore. Click here to download a brochure.