Malaysia on the clock as it misses out on another undersea cable

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: With Malaysia missing out on yet another undersea cable, stakeholders are saying time is running out to reinstate the cabotage exemption lest the country miss out on more digital infrastructure projects.

In the latest chapter in the cabotage saga, it was announced that Apricot, Facebook and Google’s new subsea cable, aimed at boosting regional connectivity, would bypass Malaysia entirely.

Facebook said in a statement that the cable system, expected to launch in 2024, would provide an initial design capacity of more than 190 tbps to meet rising data demand in the region and support the upcoming Echo and Bifrost cables, which also will not connect to Malaysia.

Speaking to FMT, Malaysia Internet Exchange chairman Chiew Kok Hin said a pair of factors had caused Malaysia to fall victim in this case.

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