AT&T to Increase Undersea Cable Capacity With Major Upgrade of Asia Pacific Cable Network 2

HONG KONG, July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T* today announced the planned expansion of its network capacity for the Asia Pacific region through the upgrade of the APCN2, of which AT&T is part of the ownership group. The fourfold rise in capacity in the state-of-the-art dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) cable will increase the original design capacity from the existing 10Gb/s DWDM to 40Gb/s expansion. This represents one of the world's large-scale upgrade of a major undersea cable network.

The existing APCN2 is an undersea telecommunications network of cables that spans 19,000 km and connects ten landing points across Asia Pacific, including in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. The upgrade is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2011.

APCN2 is a key component of AT&T's global backbone and along with several other subsea cables in the Asia Pacific region. It provides high-speed bandwidth and helps enable the diversity needed to support meshing capabilities provided by the AT&T global network. The APCN2 is designed to provide connectivity with other major trans-oceanic cable networks linking the USA, Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia.

"We are excited at the opportunity to meet our customers' growing needs for more capacity as transmission demands continue to increase in the Asia Pacific region," said Joe Watson, executive director, network engineering, AT&T Asia Pacific. "As traffic continues to grow by large measures in the region, our participation in major undersea cable networks like the APCN2 allows us to continue providing industry-leading solutions for our multinational customers around the world."

AT&T owns or leases capacity on more than 85 submarine cable systems, spanning more than 433,904 fiber-route miles around the globe, including several submarine cable routes that it uses to carry traffic between the Asia Pacific region and North America. In 2010, AT&T plans to invest US$1 billion as part of its overall 2010 global network investment to scale its delivery of applications, mobility and cloud services for global companies, to expand small business services within the United States and to continue extending its network globally. The 2010 investment program for businesses is part of AT&T's overall existing capital plan.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.