New Undersea Cable to Speed Net Access in China

From FinancialTimes: Undersea cable to speed net access in China

"Chinese authorities have approved the laying of an undersea cable that is expected to increase the speed at which internet users in northern China can access overseas websites by up to 50 per cent."

"Asia Netcom, the international cable arm of state-controlled fixed-line telephone operator China Netcom, will run the new 350km cable from the eastern port of Qingdao to its submarine regional network linking South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The new cable, which will be connected early next year and have capacity of 80 gigabytes, will ease the strain on Chinese networks burdened by growth in the number of local internet users and the popularity of data-heavy services such as video downloads and online games."

"The cable would have capacity of 80 gigabits per second and bring a noticeable improvement in internet access speeds to websites in the region and North America for northern Chinese users, said William Barney, Asia Netcom's president and chief operating officer.
“Across the Pacific it will probably be a 10-15 per cent improvement, depending on where you are. To access websites in Korea and Japan it will be almost 40-50 per cent better,” Mr Barney said."