Japan Undersea Cables in Southeast Asia
The purpose of this article is to find out Japan’s role in the development of undersea cables in Asia, but first we need to understand the role they play in the global economy. Secondly, recognize their role in the economic as well as political realm. Once it is fully acknowledged the role undersea cables play then the article would focus on why Japan is building them and how the government intends to support its firms in face of Chinese threat.
Undersea Cables:
Marine cables are used to transmit data across the world for example more than 99 percent of the internet traffic is conducted through them. As far as the physical apparatus of the cables is concerned, the cord which carries the light signal from one end to the other are as thin as roughly the diameter of a human hair. To protect the cords from human contact, they are kept under the seabed near the shores while in the deep sea they go all the way down to the ocean floor.
Undersea cables are important as anything and everything which takes place on the internet is conducted through them. To give you an example, Tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon would not have been able to become as big as they did if it were not for the cables which connects us to the internet. Economically speaking these cables run financial transactions worth $10 trillion every single day. With the rise of digital world in the 21st century and since the pandemic has accelerated digitalization, undersea cables will contribute more to the world economy.
Politically the control of these undersea cables could give a nation upper hand during a conflict, it could become a key issue of contestation between Washington and Beijing going forward. For instance, Huawei Marine Networks Corporation is currently working on laying 7500-mile cable joining Europe, Asia, and Africa. With Huawei’s links to the Chinese military, the CCP could utilize the control over subsea cables to monitor data and maybe even orchestrate espionage operations.
Japanese Projects:
Source: https://www.submarinenetworks.com/systems/intra-asia/sjc/sjc-cable-system
Nippon Electric Corporation (NEC) built the southeast Asia-Japan cable system which spans 8,900 km connecting Chikura of Japan with Shantou in mainland China, Chung Homkok of Hong Kong, Nasugbu region of Philippines, Songkhla of Thailand, Telisai region in Brunei and lastly Tuas region of Singapore. The cables consisted of 6 fiber pairs which has the capacity to run 28 terabytes of data per second, it became operational in June 2013.
Source: https://www.nec.com/en/press/201611/global_20161117_01.html
NEC completed the construction of Asia Pacific Gateway in November 2016 which connects Shin Maruyama and Shima in Japan, Busan in South Korea, Chongming and Nanhui in China, Toucheng in Taiwan, Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong, Da Nang in Vietnam, Songkhla in Thailand, Kuantan in Malaysia and lastly the east coast of Singapore. The length of the cable is about 10,900 km and has the capability to transfer 50 tera-bits of data per second.
Source: https://www.submarinenetworks.com/en/systems/intra-asia/sjc2
NEC began building 10,500 km long cable for Southeast Asia Japan 2 cable project in 2018. This project will have a total of 11 landing stations. BU1 running from Singapore connecting Thailand and Cambodia via BU1A, BU2 cable running from Vietnam, BU3 via Hong Kong. BU4A and BU4 are the two landing stations in Taiwan, BU5 located in Mainland China, BU6 in South Korea and lastly BU7 which connects two landing stations in Japan. The cable line is expected to complete construction this year and can transfer 140 tera-bits of data per second.
Source: https://www.nec.com/en/case/asia_direct_cable/index.html
(NEC) is currently laying down 9,400 km long subsea cable connecting Singapore’s Tuas, Sri Racha in Thailand, Quy Nhon in Vietnam, Batangas in Philippines. China’s special administrative region of Hong Kong and Shantou located in Guangdong province and Maruyama in Japan. The cable has been built to support more than 140 tera-bits of data per second and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. The cables will help improve connectivity between East and Southeast Asia and the faster speed will allow for advancements in 5G, internet-of-things, artificial intelligence.
Japan’s policy:
On 27 July 2018, the government updated its cybersecurity strategy under which it called to strengthen infrastructure including but not limited to undersea cables. Undersea cables carry 99 percent of international traffic which traverses through Japan and the remaining 1 percent is carried by satellite, but they are inefficient and expensive. Since the island nation is dependent on undersea cables to keep the internet going, protecting the cables is of vital importance. Updating the cybersecurity strategy is aimed at securing itself in the cyber realm which is the fifth domain of warfare after land, air, water, and space, with the rise of digitalization being secure in the cyber realm would be even more important.
As far as undersea cables are concerned, the internal affairs and communications ministry said that the Japanese government intends to support firms such as NEC under an ‘overseas expansion plan’ which would cover exports of telecommunications infrastructure including undersea cables. The firms would receive financial support through the private-public ICT fund.
Nippon Electric Corporation dominates undersea cables after Subcom of US, is a private entity and does not have direct link with either the government or the self defence force since undersea cables have a direct bearing on cybersecurity, the government is slowly stepping in evident by the plan mentioned above. The decision to focus on undersea cables could be because China is making inroads in submarine cables and could come to dominate undersea cable market if other entities do not act fast. However, US’ Subcom and Japan’s NEC currently control more than 90 percent of the market.
Submarine cables will come to play a dominant role in the coming decades since they will determine how widespread new technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence and internet-of-things become as majority of the internet traffic will be conducted through them. It would be in Tokyo’s national interest to prevent adversaries such as China from gaining control over its cyberspace which includes undersea cables.
Final Standpoint:
Undersea cables play an important role in the digital economy since majority of the internet traffic is conducted through them. NEC has been at the forefront of Asia’s digital transformation as it has laid thousands of kilometers of undersea cables which carry 99 percent of the internet traffic across Asia. The focus has been on four major undersea cable laying projects, which are Southeast Asia-Japan cable which became operational in June 2013, Asia Pacific Gateway came into service in November 2016, Southeast Asia-Japan 2 cable began operations in March 2018 and finally, the highspeed submarine cable which is being constructed at present and is expected to begin service by the end of 2022.
Japanese government has realized the importance of undersea cables and the role they play in the digital world and as a result, it is planning to give financial support to the firms through the public-private ICT fund. The overseas expansion plan will be utilized to enable firms to telecommunications infrastructure which includes undersea cables. Given Beijing’s aggressive foreign policy outlook, it is important for Japan to maintain control over cyberspace in the country including undersea cables.
?End Notes
1)https://www2.telegeography.com/submarine-cable-faqs-frequently-asked-questions
2)https://www.ccdcoe.org/uploads/2019/11/Undersea-cables-Final-NOV-2019.pdf
3)https://www.escaeu.org/articles/submarine-telecommunications-cables/
4)https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/07/01/protecting-undersea-cables-must-be-made-a-national-security-priority/
5)https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/connectedlab/how-covid-19-has-accelerated-digital-transformation-and-what-the-future-looks-like/
6)https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/explained-us-china-s-undersea-battle-for-control-of-global-internet-grid-119031300168_1.html
7)https://www.cnet.com/news/huawei-is-backed-by-chinese-military-trump-administration-reportedly-finds/#:~:text=Huawei%20is%20owned%20or%20controlled,by%20the%20People's%20Liberation%20Army.
8)https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/explained-us-china-s-undersea-battle-for-control-of-global-internet-grid-119031300168_1.html
9)https://www.nec.com/en/press/202012/global_20201218_01.html
10)https://www.zdnet.com/article/nec-appointed-to-build-asia-pacific-submarine-cable/
12)https://www.zdnet.com/article/nec-signed-to-build-southeast-asia-japan-2-cable/
13)https://www.nec.com/en/press/201611/global_20161117_01.html
14)https://omnisperience.com/2020/06/12/nec-to-build-adc-cable/
15)https://japantoday.com/category/tech/consortium-to-build-new-asia-pacific-submarine-cable
16)https://www.nec.com/en/case/asia_direct_cable/index.html
17)https://subtelforum.com/japan-to-counter-china-submarine-cable-presence/
18)https://www.lightreading.com/asia/japan-government-to-help-fund-subsea-cable-projects-to-counter-china/d/d-id/757362
19)https://www.asiaglobalonline.hku.hk/undersea-cables-cyberspace-stability-security
20)https://thekootneeti.in/2020/05/13/analysis-of-japans-prowess-cyber-domain/
21)https://www.cnet.com/news/huawei-is-backed-by-chinese-military-trump-administration-reportedly-finds/#:~:text=Huawei%20is%20owned%20or%20controlled,by%20the%20People's%20Liberation%20Army.
22)https://www.jiia.or.jp/en/column/2020/10/research-reports-economy-security-linkages02.html
Pic Courtesy -www.nec.com
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)
