BEIJING, June 14 -- The Central Government has approved the laying of an undersea cable that is expected to increase the speed at which Internet users in the northern part of the mainland can access overseas Web sites by up to 50 percent.

　　Asia Netcom, the international cable arm of State fixed-line telephone operator China Netcom, will run the new 350-kilometer cable from the eastern port of Qingdao to its submarine regional network linking South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

　　The new cable, which will be connected early next year and have capacity of 80 gigabytes, will ease the strain on Chinese networks burdened by growth in the number of Internet users and the popularity of data-heavy services such as video downloads and online games.

　　The cable would have capacity of 80 gigabits per second and bring a noticeable improvement in Internet access speeds to Web sites in the region and North America for northern Chinese users, said William Barney, Asia Netcom's president and chief operating officer.

　　"Across the Pacific it will probably be a 10-15 percent improvement, depending on where you are. To access Web sites in South Korea and Japan it will be almost 40-50 percent better," Barney said.

　　Access to overseas Web sites from Beijing and other areas of the northern part of the mainland is often very slow, particularly during times of peak demand.

　　Mainland's consumption of international telecoms bandwidth soared 170 percent between 2003 and 2004, Asia Netcom says.

　　The cable will also allow Asia Netcom to connect its 19,500-kilometer submarine cable system directly to the domestic network of parent China Netcom, which acquired the former Asia unit of Global Crossing, the bankrupt U.S. telecommunications infrastructure company, in March 2003.

　　(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)