China Pulls Back From Global Subsea Cable Project as US Tensions Mount
Two of China's biggest telecoms groups, China Telecom and China Mobile, withdrew their combined investment of roughly 20 per cent from the subsea cable project last year after a US company was selected to build the line over Hengtong Marine, the country's biggest provider in the sector, according to three people briefed on the decision.
Their exit from the Sea-Me-We 6 pipeline -- which is estimated to cost around $500mn to lay 19,200km of cables connecting south-east Asia to western Europe -- highlights the growing battle between China and the US over who builds and owns the infrastructure underpinning the global internet. The departure of China Mobile and China Telecom is an indication of intensifying tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to industry figures with knowledge of the project. Another member of the consortium described their involvement as "important but not critical."
