NEC to build new trans-Pacific cable

NEC Corporation has been contracted by Seren Juno Network Co., Ltd., a company established by NTT Ltd Japan Corporation, PC Landing Corp. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and JA Mitsui Leasing, Ltd. to build a trans-Pacific subsea fiber-optic cable, "JUNO Cable System," connecting California in the US with Chiba prefecture and Mie prefecture in Japan.

This cable will provide the largest data capacity between the US and Japan, spanning a total distance of approximately 10,000 km, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Until recently, subsea cable was composed of 16 fiber pairs at most, but today, by using NEC's newly developed energy efficient repeaters, and the leading-edge SDM (Space Division Multiplexing) technology, this system will be able to adapt as many as 20 fiber pairs for the first time in a trans-Pacific subsea fiber-optic cable (*).

The cable is expected to provide a maximum capacity of 350Tbps, the largest among any existing cable system between the US and Japan.

Japan plays an important role as a data hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

This cable will promote the development of digital economies by supporting the strong demand for communications, including the spread of 5G throughout Asia and North America. In addition, by providing communication routes from two separate locations in Japan to the US, the system will be highly resilient to natural disasters in the coastal areas of Japan.

Moreover, the WSS (Wavelength Selective Switch) function will enable the system to remotely alter the bandwidth of each route, enabling it to respond flexibly to customer business needs and changes in communications traffic demand.

NEC has been a leading supplier of submarine cable systems for more than 50 years, and has built more than 300,000 km of cable, spanning the earth nearly 8 times. NEC is well-established as a reliable partner in the submarine cable field as a system integrator that provides all aspects of submarine cable operations, including the manufacture and installation of optical submarine cables and repeaters, provision of ocean surveys and route designs, training and delivery testing.

NEC's subsidiary OCC Corporation manufactures subsea optical cables capable of withstanding water pressures at ocean depths beyond 8,000 meters.