Filipino incumbent Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) has teamed up with other regional providers in a USD500 million high-bandwidth fibre-optic submarine cable system project linking Southeast Asia with the US. The Asia America Gateway (AAG) Cable System is a cable project backed by 17 telcos including AT&T, Bharti, BT Global Network Services, CAT Telecom, ETPI, PCP Company Limited, PT Indosat, Saigon Postel Corporation, StarHub, Telekom Malaysia, TELKOM Indonesia, Telstra, the Government of Brunei Darussalam, TNZL, Viettel and VNPT. The 20,000km AAG system will connect Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US West Coast. It is expected to be lit by the fourth quarter of next year.
