Trends

TIME dotCom hits 1Tb/s across Pacific with Ciena

A new 1Tb/s optical transmission across the FASTER cable highlights rising demand for high-capacity data routes linking Asia and the US.

Headline

A new 1Tb/s optical transmission across the FASTER cable highlights rising demand for high-capacity data routes linking Asia and the US.

Context

Malaysian telecommunications provider TIME dotCom has achieved 1Tb/s data transmission across the FASTER subsea cable system using optical networking technology from Ciena, marking a significant increase in trans-Pacific backbone capacity. The milestone was announced in March 2026 and builds on TIME’s strategy to strengthen its international network between Asia and North America. According to Ciena , the deployment uses the company’s coherent optical technology to enable 1Tb/s wavelength transmission across the FASTER cable route.

Evidence

Pending intelligence enrichment.

Analysis

The FASTER subsea cable system connects Japan to the United States and is one of the key trans-Pacific digital corridors linking Asia’s data centres with North American cloud infrastructure. TIME operates capacity on the cable as part of its broader international connectivity portfolio. By upgrading the system with Ciena’s high-capacity optical transport platform, the operator is able to significantly increase throughput on existing fibre infrastructure without deploying new cables. According to the companies, the achievement demonstrates how advances in coherent optics are enabling step-changes in subsea network performance. TIME dotCom, headquartered in Malaysia, provides global connectivity and wholesale services across Asia-Pacific and beyond. The company has increasingly focused on strengthening international backbone routes that support hyperscale cloud providers, content platforms and enterprise networks. The new 1Tb/s transmission capability is expected to support growing data flows between Asia and North America, particularly as cloud computing, AI workloads and streaming traffic drive rising demand for international bandwidth.