(Yicai) Oct. 18 -- China Unicom Group, one of the country’s largest telecommunications operators, will build Cambodia’s first state-owned submarine optical fiber cable with a large capacity for international communications.

The nearly 3,000-kilometer submarine optical fiber cable will run from Hong Kong to Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia, China Unicom announced yesterday, citing a deal it signed with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia on the same day.

The project will start construction on March 2, next year, and be completed in July 2025, the Beijing-based carrier added, noting that it will further deepen its partnership with Cambodia on digital infrastructure construction and digital economy in the future.

China Unicom owns more than 20 land optical fiber cable border stations connecting China with over 10 neighboring countries and regions, reaching more than 20 international land optical fiber cable systems. The firm also has 10 submarine cable landing stations globally and more than 60 submarine cable systems.

The SEA-H2X submarine cable, co-initiated by China Unicom, connects Hong Kong, China’s southernmost Hainan province, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, and further stretches to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Editor: Futura Costaglione