Nokia to upgrade Symphony’s MCT subsea cable route linking Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore

Nokia has been selected by Symphony Communication Public Company Limited to upgrade the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand subsea cable system, adding more capacity to a regional route that connects Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

The upgrade will replace legacy equipment with Nokia’s submarine line terminal equipment, powered by its sixth-generation Photonic Service Engines coherent optics. Nokia said the modernised system will support up to 30 Tbps of capacity per fibre pair, three times the capacity of the legacy systems.

The MCT cable is also being positioned around lower-latency connectivity for cloud providers, AI service operators, internet-based service companies and enterprises. Nokia said the route will support workloads such as AI inference, where trained AI systems process live requests, cloud bursting, where workloads move into cloud capacity when demand increases, and mission-critical enterprise applications.

Rayong gives the cable a role in Thailand’s data centre plans

The MCT system is the only subsea cable landing in Rayong, within Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor. That gives the cable a specific role in Thailand’s plan to attract more digital infrastructure investment into the area.

Nokia cited Thailand Board of Investment data stating that the country has attracted more than US$23 billion in data centre investment across 36 projects. The company said the upgraded MCT cable will provide a higher-capacity route for companies that need connectivity between Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Nokia links the upgrade to capacity and power efficiency

Nokia said its PSE-6 coherent optics uses 5nm DSP technology and signal optimisation to increase capacity and improve efficiency. It also said the technology can reduce network power consumption by 60%, supporting Symphony’s sustainability goals.

The deployment will also use Nokia’s WaveSuite optical network automation platform. According to Nokia, the platform will give Symphony improved visibility across network layers, support automation across domains, and help with energy optimisation, lifecycle operations and network resiliency.

Ajay Sharma, Country Manager of Thailand at Nokia, said, “We are pleased to expand our longstanding partnership with SYMPHONY from terrestrial and cross-border networks into the subsea domain. This upgrade will help deliver advanced, trusted connectivity across Southeast Asia and support Thailand’s ambition to become a regional hub for AI and cloud-driven digital services.”

The upgrade extends Symphony’s existing connectivity business into a higher-capacity subsea network role. Symphony provides connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity and managed services through its fibre-optic backbone, international terrestrial networks and submarine cable connectivity.

Alex Loh, Chief Executive Officer of Symphony Communication Public Company Limited, said, “The MCT upgrade underscores our commitment to continuously improve network performance to provide the best-in-class experience to our customers. With Nokia’s submarine network solution, we will deliver unmatched capacity and reliability and become the connectivity partner of choice for hyperscalers and enterprises, building next-generation digital infrastructure hub in Southeast Asia.”