VietNamNet Bridge - Though the APG submarine cable broke twice in six months, Vietnam Internet Association’s (VIA) secretary general Vu The Binh said that APG has helped improve security and provisioning capability for Vietnam’s internet.

Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) was put into trial operation in late October and became officially operational in mid-December 2016, after four years of installation.

The APG project attracted many Asian telecom groups, including Japanese NTT Docomo, Chinese China Telecom and South Korean KT. The four Vietnamese investors include VNPT (the Vietnam Post & Telecommunication Group) , Viettel, FPT Telecom and CMC Telecom.

With a length of 10,400 kilometers, the APG cable is located under the Pacific Ocean, connecting points in nine countries and territories including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The system has a capacity of 54 terabits per second with the Internet speed of 20 times higher than AAG (Asia America Gateway).

Though the APG submarine cable broke twice in six months, Vietnam Internet Association’s (VIA) secretary general Vu The Binh said that APG has helped improve security and provisioning capability for Vietnam’s internet.

AAG also has to be repaired so often. In the first half of 2015 alone,  it was in trouble four times, on January 1, April 23, May 26 and early June.

While AAG  cable plays an important role in connecting Vietnam and the world, APG is hoped to help the connection become faster and more stable, and help ease reliance on AAG. 

Binh told the press in late December 2016 that APG helped improve security for Vietnam’s internet. 

VIA’s representative also said though ISPs in Vietnam still have not provided detailed information about capacity through APG, the impact on international internet connectivity was less serious than before.

However, APG twice broke down within a short time. It broke for the first time on December 31, 2016 at positions near Singapore and Chongming, China. The latest breakdown occurred on June 20, 2017 at a position just 125 kilometers from Da Nang City.

According to CMC Telecom, one of the ISPs which develop APG, the trouble caused 100 percent loss of AGP capacity to Vietnam. 

When asked if APG would break down regularly like AAG, Binh said he still doesn’t have enough information to compare APG with AAG. 

However, he believes the APG developers have enough information about AAG’s status and operation.

Problems with cables are unpredictable. Therefore, ISPs all have to prepare contingency plans to ensure smooth operation. The plans depend on their business strategies and targeted clients.

VIA’s official said internet service in Vietnam is competitive, with the service fee much lower than in other regional countries.

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