New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System

New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System: a trans-Pacific link connecting East Asia and North America

The New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System is an undersea telecommunications cable that spans the Pacific Ocean, connecting multiple landing points in East Asia with Pacific City in the United States. Operational since 2018, it is owned by a consortium of major telecom operators and technology companies, including China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, KT, Microsoft, and Softbank. The cable is currently listed as in service. What makes the NCP Cable System noteworthy is its strategic role in linking several key economies across the Pacific, including China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. Despite its significance, much about its technical specifications remains undisclosed, including its design capacity, fiber pair count, and supplier details, leaving analysts to rely on indirect observations and industry norms.

Quick facts

Name	New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System
Length	13,618 km
Ready-for-service year	2018 (GeoCables database; conflicting data not surfaced)
Owners	China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, KT, Microsoft, Softbank
Status	In service
Design capacity	Not disclosed
Fiber pairs	Not disclosed
Supplier	Not disclosed
Technology	Not disclosed
Landing points	Busan (South Korea), Chongming (China), Lingang (China), Maruyama (Japan), Nanhui (China), Pacific City (United States), Toucheng (Taiwan)

Show New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System on the interactive cable map

Route

The NCP Cable System connects seven landing points: Busan in South Korea; Chongming, Lingang, and Nanhui in China; Maruyama in Japan; Toucheng in Taiwan; and Pacific City in the United States. These locations span a diverse geographical corridor, linking major economic and technological hubs in East Asia to the west coast of North America. The cable's route traverses deep oceanic regions, requiring meticulous surveying and engineering to ensure durability and reliability.

Why it was built and what it carries

The NCP Cable System was constructed to address growing demand for high-speed, high-capacity connectivity between East Asia and North America. The cable supports international data traffic for internet services, cloud computing, enterprise applications, and telecommunications. Its ownership by a consortium of telecom operators and technology companies reflects its importance in serving both consumer and enterprise markets.

History: what can be established

The GeoCables database lists the cable's ready-for-service year as 2018, with no conflicting data from industry sources surfaced in this analysis. While the exact timeline of its planning, construction, and commissioning is not publicly detailed, its operational status since 2018 aligns with broader trends in trans-Pacific cable development during that period.

Capacity and technology

Publicly available information does not disclose the NCP Cable System's design capacity, fiber pair count, or supplier details. Without operator documentation, attributing specific technological features would be speculative. However, given its ownership by major telecom and technology companies, it is reasonable to assume that the cable employs advanced optical technologies typical of modern submarine systems.

Latency: the physics

The computed one-way light propagation latency over the cable's 13,618 km wet segment is approximately 66.8 ms, yielding a theoretical round-trip time (RTT) floor of 133.5 ms. Real-world latency measurements, however, are influenced by additional factors such as terrestrial network segments, routing, and terminal equipment. GeoCables live measurements reveal varying RTTs for paths involving the NCP Cable System:

• Toucheng -> Pacific City: min 119.1 ms, avg 134.5 ms (min flagged as an artifact below the physical floor).
• Pacific City -> Toucheng: min 173.9 ms, avg 189.6 ms.
• Singapore -> Chongming: min 203.0 ms, avg 219.3 ms.

The minimum RTT of 119.1 ms for Toucheng -> Pacific City is below the computed physical floor, indicating a measurement artifact likely caused by rate-limited ICMP replies from intermediate routers. Analysts should interpret such values cautiously and avoid presenting them as actual cable performance.

Redundancy: what happens if it breaks

The NCP Cable System's landing points are shared with several other submarine cables, providing redundancy in the event of a failure. For example:

• Busan hosts APCN-2, Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), and others.
• Chongming connects to APCN-2 and the Trans-Pacific Express (TPE) Cable System.
• Pacific City is linked to other trans-Pacific systems, though specific alternatives are not listed in the FACTS block.

Standard industry practices for submarine cable repair include deploying specialized cable ships to locate, retrieve, and repair damaged sections. Redundancy via alternative cables mitigates the impact of outages, ensuring continued connectivity.

Bottom line

• The NCP Cable System spans 13,618 km, connecting East Asia and North America.
• Operational since 2018, owned by a consortium including China Mobile, Microsoft, and Softbank.
• Technical specifications such as design capacity and fiber pairs remain undisclosed.
• Computed latency floor is 133.5 ms RTT for the wet segment; real-world measurements show higher values.
• Redundancy is provided by overlapping cable systems at key landing points.