MANILA - AN UNDERWATER fibre-optic cable system connecting South East Asia to the US will be ready in August, the Philippine member of an international consortium of telecom firms said on Wednesday.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co said all land cable installation works for the 20,000 km system have been completed and the remaining undersea installation work is expected to be finished this month.

'Network testing is expected to begin immediately after the completion of the remaining submarine installation works,' the company added in a statement.

The high-bandwidth cable project was launched in May 2007 at a cost of about US$500 million (S$728 million). It will link the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, and Hong Kong to the US mainland as well as Guam and Hawaii. -- AFP