SEA-ME-WE 6

South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) is an in-progress optical fibre submarine communications cable system that would carry telecommunications between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. Construction began in early 2022. It is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2025^[1] The expected cable length is 19,200 km and it has a design capacity of 126 Tbit/s (12.6 Tbit/s per fiber pair), using SDM technology.^[2]

SEA-ME-WE 6

Cable type	Submarine Fibre-optic
Predecessor	SEA-ME-WE, SEA-ME-WE 2, SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4, SEA-ME-WE 5
Construction beginning	21 February 2022
Construction finished	Expected RFS 2025
Design capacity	126 Tbit/s
Area served	South East Asia, Middle East Asia, Western Europe
Owner(s)	Consortium

Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Djibouti, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, France, Myanmar and Yemen are members of the SEA-ME-WE-6 Consortium.^[3]

In May 2023, it was reported the U.S. government had objected to Chinese participation in the cable due to security concerns, and construction was moved from HMN Technologies (Huawei Marine Networks) to a U.S. consortium, SubCom.^[4] Due to rising geopolitical tensions between China and the US, two Chinese operators, namely China Telecom and China Mobile withdrew from the consortium.^[5] They are planning a rival cable with China Unicom.^[6]

Planned Landing points

SEA-ME-WE 6 Landing points^[7]

Location	Operator & Technical Partner
Marseille, France	Orange S.A^[8]
Port Said, Egypt Ras Ghareb, Egypt	Telecom Egypt^[9]
Yanbu, Saudi Arabia	Mobily^[10]
Djibouti City, Dijbouti	Djibouti Telecom^[11]
Barka, Oman	Batelco (Al Khaleej Branch)^[12]
Doha, Qatar	Batelco (Al Khaleej Branch)^[12]
Manama, Bahrain	Batelco (Al Khaleej Branch)^[13]
Abu Dhabi, UAE	Etisalat by e& (Al Khaleej Branch)^[12]
Karachi, Pakistan	Transworld Associates^[14]
Mumbai, India	Bharti Airtel^[15]
Hulhumale, Maldives	Dhiraagu^[16]
Matara, Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Telecom^[17]
Chennai, India	Bharti Airtel^[15]
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh	Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited^[18]
Morib, Malaysia	Telekom Malaysia^[19]
Tuas, Singapore	Singtel^[20]

Al Khaleej Branch

The Al Khaleej cable is a branch of the upcoming SEA-ME-WE 6 cable connecting the UAE to Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. Jointly operated by Batelco and Etisalat by e&, it will be 1,400 km long and will be ready for service in Q2 2026.^[21]

References

1. Baldock, Harry (2022-02-21). "Work begins on SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable". Totaltelecom. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
2. "SEA-ME-WE 6 - Submarine Networks". www.submarinenetworks.com. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
3. "Four Int'l Firms in Race to Build Third Submarine Cable". 6 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
4. Stefano Kotsonis; Meghna Chakrabarti (May 22, 2023). "A new rivalry between the U.S. and China over the world's undersea cables". On Point (show transcript). Boston: WBUR.
5. Lipscombe, Paul (2023-02-13). "Two Chinese operators withdraw from SEA-ME-WE 6 subsea cable project as tensions with US grow". Data Centre Dynamics. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
6. China to build $500m SEA-ME-WE-6 rival cable
7. "SEA-ME-WE 6 Submarine Cable Map". www.submarinecablemap.com. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
8. "Orange joins SEA-ME-WE 6 cable project with landing station in Marseille". www.telecompaper.com. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
9. "Telecom Egypt extends its network reach through SEA-ME-WE 6 cable and provides it a unique crossing route over its distinctive infrastructure". ir.te.eg. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
10. "Mobily joins SEA-ME-WE-6 consortium to build undersea cable system". SatellitePro ME. 2022-03-09. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
11. "Construction of the new SEA-ME-WE 6 Cable - Djibouti Telecom". international.djiboutitelecom.dj. 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
12. Butler, Georgia (2024-02-16). "Batelco and e& sign MoU to land Al Khaleej subsea cable in UAE". Data Center Dynamics. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
13. Dux, Simon (2023-09-20). "Batelco chooses SubCom to build and install SEA-ME-WE 6 branch". Mobile Europe. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
14. "Pakistan to Get New Submarine Cable SEA-ME-WE 6 with 100Tbps Speeds Through TWA". ProPakistani. 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
15. "Bharti Airtel joins SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium; anchoring 20 pc investment in cable system". The Economic Times. 2022-02-21. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
16. Bank, Asian Development (2022-10-26). "ADB, Dhiraagu to Expand Internet Access in Maldives Through New Undersea Cable System". www.adb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
17. "SLTMobitel". www.slt.lk. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
18. "Bangladesh to connect with 3rd submarine cable by 2021". banglatribune.com. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
19. "TM In Consortium To Build SEA-ME-WE 6 Submarine Cable System". www.kkd.gov.my. 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
20. "SEA-ME-WE 6 consortium to install high-capacity undersea cable system connecting Singapore to France; completion set for Q1 2025". www.singtel.com. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
21. Grey, Deborah (2024-02-20). "Batelco signs MoU with e& to land Al Khaleej subsea cable in UAE". W Media. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

External links

• Leveraging Submarine Cables for Political Gain: U.S. Responses to Chinese Strategy by Lane Burdette, May 5, 2021