China Mobile International Limited (CMI) officially activated the Southeast Asia–Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) on 16 July, 2025. Spanning 10,500 kilometers, this revolutionary submarine cable system is set to redefine connectivity across the Asia Pacific.
SJC2’s main trunk links Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Japan, with additional branches covering other key Asia-Pacific countries and regions. Employing the latest optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology, the cable is capable of transmitting more than 126 terabits per second (Tbps).
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SJC2 enhances submarine cable infrastructure in the region with additional capacity, route diversity, and resilience by strengthening the redundancy of the network to meet the increasing demand for connectivity within Southeast Asia and East Asia. This will contribute to a more stable communications environment to power artificial intelligence (AI) and other bandwidth-intensive applications.
Together with the existing submarine cables, CMI has now established eight routes within the Asia Pacific, significantly enhancing network availability and meeting growing bandwidth requirements.
Additionally, by utilizing its self-developed Local Ring Systems in Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Singapore, which are connected to data centers across the region, CMI can customize PoP-to-PoP (points-of-presence) solutions with highly scalable and flexible bandwidth.
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Southeast Asia has become one of the world’s most exciting digital markets. According to Market Research Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asia digital transformation market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2% from 2024 to 2032. Much of this change is being powered by rising internet access. More broadly, the Asia Pacific submarine cable system market is expected to reach USD 18.36 billion by 2034, according to Precedence Research.
Consequently, the need for expanded connectivity infrastructure has become increasingly apparent.
SJC2 is a core pillar of CMI’s efforts to enhance global connectivity, particularly in the Asia Pacific, by supporting the explosive growth of 5G, cloud computing, AI, and e-commerce. SJC2 can help meet this surging demand by providing enterprises, cloud providers, and digital platforms with low-latency, high-capacity data transfer that is essential for AI workloads and data-intensive applications, while also improving digital inclusion and bridging connectivity gaps in underserved regions.
The SJC2 cable, led by CMI and its partners, is the latest submarine cable project completed in the Asia Pacific. Through its planned connection with the PEACE cable, which became operational in September 2024, SJC2 can extend its network coverage to Europe. In recent years, CMI has invested in several other cable systems around the world, including 2Africa, a transcontinental system linking South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe; IAX and IEX, a submarine link connecting Singapore, India, Italy, and France; and SEA-H2X, a Southeast Asia network connecting mainland China, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
With a network spanning 78 countries, over 100 cable systems, 168+ Tbps of bandwidth, 330+ global PoPs, and self-owned data centers in major cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and Frankfurt, as well as 1,278 partner data centers, CMI supports partners worldwide.
