FUZHOU, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The first undersea telecommunication cables linking Taiwan and the Chinese mainland started operating on Tuesday, the primary company behind the project said.
The two optical fiber cables, linking the city of Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province and Kinmen Island, will serve as a cross-Strait "information highway," said Wang Xiaochu, board chairman of China Telecom, the primary builder and operator of the line.
Wang said the designed capacity of the Xiamen-Kinmen cables, which were completed on June 22, is about 100 times the current telecommunication volume between the two sides.
Prior to the launch of the direct line, signals were sent via international cables after cross-Strait telecommunication services were opened in 1993.
Kao Mingshu, a Taiwanese businessman who lives in Xiamen and does business on the mainland, said the new cables would make communicating with his family in Taiwan much more convenient.
"Communication difficulties were the greatest concern for my family in Taiwan," Kao said. "The greater information efficiency will surely benefit cross-Strait links."
|
