US-BACKED $400 MILLION UNDERSEA INTERNET CABLE EXCLUDES CHINESE SUPPLIERS AS TECHNOLOGY RIVALRY INTENSIFIES ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIA

The US-backed MViSTA undersea cable project linking Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand is preparing to choose between Japan’s NEC and France’s Alcatel Submarine Networks as its principal supplier. Chinese companies were excluded from bidding, while the route has also been designed to avoid areas of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. The approximately US$400 million cable will span around 2,500 kilometres, use 16 fibre pairs and is expected to begin operating in late 2028. The project highlights how competition between the United States and China is increasingly influencing the companies, routes and security standards used to build the physical infrastructure of the global internet.