Thailand’s NT proposes US$480m project for four new subsea cables
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State-owned Thai telco National Telecom (NT) has reportedly submitted a proposal to the Finance Ministry to build four new international subsea cables connecting Thailand to Singapore, Japan and Europe at a cost of THB16.1 billion (US$480 million).
According to a report in The Nation on Friday, citing a Finance Ministry source, NT intends to budget THB6.6 billion for two subsea cable systems to Singapore, THB4 billion for a cable system to Europe, and THB5.5 billion for one to Japan.
NT is requesting the funds under an emergency decree approved by the Cabinet in May this year authorising the Finance Ministry to borrow up to THB400 billion to ease the impact of rising energy costs, as well as support the restructuring of Thailand’s energy sector to reduce vulnerability and strengthen energy security in the long term.
The decree mainly targets groups in urgent need of assistance, including low-income and middle-income earners, farmers, small entrepreneurs, and SME operators.
However, NT justified the request by saying the new subsea cables are necessary to replace ageing subsea cable infrastructure and increase Thailand’s international bandwidth to support growing data traffic volumes driven by AI, cloud computing, and new hyperscale data centres, the report said.
That in turn would boost Thailand’s competitiveness by creating a stable network that can support Thai start-ups, researchers and businesses developing next-gen digital innovations in areas such as self-driving vehicles, fintech and telemedicine, NT argued.
The proposal noted the project is still in the preparatory stage, as NT has not yet conducted feasibility studies or site surveys, and needs to secure a project partner and obtain numerous government and environmental approvals before it can start work, the report said.
The proposal’s timetable calls for NT to find project partners, form a consortium and conduct site surveys from now to the end of this year, the report added. NT aims to award a turnkey contract via international tender sometime early next year.
The proposal follows another project kicked off by NT in September to build a submarine cable system linking Thailand with the US via Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. NT selected APTelecom to conduct the study, with funds from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
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