• HKT is targeting completion of the first Lok Ma Chau–Tseung Kwan O phase by the end of 2026, upgrading its existing 800Gbps service
• The route positions HKT ahead of Sandy Ridge's data-centre cluster, where a developer has until 42 months from the March land award to begin operations
The fact
Hong Kong telecoms operator HKT plans to roll out a 3.2Tbps data-centre interconnect service, up from its existing 800Gbps AI Superhighway. The first phase will link Lok Ma Chau with Tseung Kwan O and is targeted for completion by the end of 2026. HKT said the route will use hollow-core fibre and could reduce latency by about 30% compared with conventional fibre.
The company said the existing service connects Hong Kong data-centre clusters with its AI Exchange in the Lok Ma Chau Loop. It could later extend the 3.2Tbps service to Sandy Ridge, where the Hong Kong government awarded a 110,000-square-metre site for a data-facility cluster in March. The government said the developer expects operations to begin within 42 months of the award.
The assessment
The 3.2Tbps route is being planned before Sandy Ridge's data-centre cluster exists, which means connectivity is being laid out alongside Hong Kong's next wave of capacity. That timing matters. If HKT completes the Lok Ma Chau–Tseung Kwan O phase by end of 2026 and then extends to Sandy Ridge as the cluster comes online, it would have a first-mover advantage in interconnecting Hong Kong's major data-centre hubs.
For BTW readers, hollow-core fibre is the technical differentiator. Light travels faster through air than glass, cutting latency by roughly 30%. At scale, that difference matters for AI training workloads that span multiple buildings. But the announced capacity and latency figures remain targets until the network is live and measured under real traffic.
What to watch
Completion of the Lok Ma Chau–Tseung Kwan O phase is targeted for the end of 2026. After that, commercial availability, live customer deployments and measured latency will provide the first evidence of how the service performs in operation. HKT has not given a timetable for Sandy Ridge, so a confirmed route and delivery schedule would mark the next stage of the rollout.