Nokia upgrades Symphony Communication’s MCT subsea network

• The modernized network will allow AI and Cloud providers and over-the-top (OTT) players to enjoy ultra-reliable, low-latency connectivity between Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Malaysia and Singapore.
• The initiative empowers Symphony Communication to expand its customer base with a high-capacity, high-performance, trusted regional connectivity corridor.
• Nokia’s PSE-6 coherent optics reduces network power consumption by 60%, supporting Symphony’s sustainability goals.  

Nokia today announced that it has been selected by Symphony Communication Public Company Limited (SYMPHONY) to upgrade the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) subsea cable system with its industry-leading optical solutions. As part of the initiative, legacy equipment will be replaced with Nokia’s Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE), powered by its sixth-generation Photonic Service Engines (PSE-6) coherent optics.

Once completed, the initiative will enable up to 30 Tbps of capacity per fiber pair, three times that of legacy systems, and will deliver low-latency connectivity between Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This will support advanced, real-time use cases such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) inference, cloud bursting and mission-critical enterprise applications. The upgrade also supports the sustainability goals of the subsea network operators by reducing the carbon footprint through improving power efficiency.

The MCT cable is the only subsea system landing in Rayong in Thailand’s EEC, the country’s primary hub for AI-driven data center investment. Thailand is rapidly emerging as a regional digital infrastructure hub, attracting more than USD23 billion in data center investment across 36 projects, according to Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) data.

This growth is attracting several global hyperscalers seeking trusted, high-capacity connectivity routes. The upgraded MCT cable provides a critical, low-latency and sovereign connectivity, addressing the region’s growing demand for secure, high-performance subsea infrastructure.

"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," said Ajay Sharma, Country Manager of Thailand at Nokia.

"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," said Alex Loh, Chief Executive Officer of Symphony Communication Public Company Limited.

Nokia’s PSE-6 solution uses advanced 5nm DSP technology and intelligent signal optimization to deliver higher capacity, better efficiency and long-term scalability. It enables a direct, high-capacity and low-latency connectivity route for enterprises, OTT players and AI and cloud providers, while reducing network power consumption by 60%. The deployment is further supported by Nokia’s WaveSuite optical network automation platform. The solution will enable a single pane of glass improved multilayer network visibility along with support for cross-domain automation to achieve sustainable energy optimization, lifecycle operations, and network resiliency in their high-performance end-to-end connectivity.