Sihanoukville-Hong Kong (SHV-HK)

Sihanoukville-Hong Kong (SHV-HK): A Cambodia-China Submarine Link

The Sihanoukville-Hong Kong (SHV-HK) submarine cable is a 2,938-kilometer fiber-optic system connecting Sihanoukville in Cambodia to Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong, China. Owned by the Government of Cambodia, it is listed as being in service and is intended to improve international connectivity for Cambodia while linking it directly to one of Asia's major telecommunications hubs. This cable raises several questions due to gaps in publicly available information. While its route and ownership are clear, details such as its design capacity, supplier, fiber pair count, and technological specifications remain undisclosed. Additionally, its recorded ready-for-service (RFS) year of 2026 in GeoCables data has not been corroborated by other industry sources, leaving room for potential discrepancies.

Quick facts

Cable name	Sihanoukville-Hong Kong (SHV-HK)
Length	2,938 km
Ready-for-service year	2026 (GeoCables database; conflicting data not currently identified)
Owner	Government of Cambodia
Status	In service
Design capacity	Not disclosed
Fiber pairs	Not disclosed
Supplier	Not disclosed
Technology	Not disclosed
Landing points	Sihanoukville (Cambodia), Tseung Kwan O (China)

Show Sihanoukville-Hong Kong (SHV-HK) on the interactive cable map

Route

The SHV-HK cable spans the South China Sea, connecting Cambodia’s coastal city of Sihanoukville to Tseung Kwan O, a major telecommunications landing station in Hong Kong. Sihanoukville serves as Cambodia’s principal deep-water port and a growing economic hub, while Tseung Kwan O is a well-established node for submarine cable systems in East Asia. The corridor traversed by this cable is a strategic one, linking Southeast Asia to Hong Kong’s dense connectivity ecosystem.

Why it was built and what it carries

The SHV-HK cable was likely built to address Cambodia’s growing demand for international bandwidth and to reduce reliance on terrestrial routes or third-party submarine systems. Direct connectivity to Hong Kong provides Cambodia with enhanced access to global internet exchanges and data centers. While the cable’s design capacity remains undisclosed, it is reasonable to assume that it supports high-speed data transmission, given the strategic importance of the route.

History: what can be established

GeoCables records the SHV-HK cable’s ready-for-service year as 2026, and it is listed as in service. However, no additional public sources have been identified to confirm this date, nor have alternative dates been suggested by industry reports. The lack of detailed documentation about the cable’s construction timeline, suppliers, or specific milestones makes it challenging to provide a comprehensive history.

Capacity and technology

The design capacity, fiber pair count, and technological specifications of the SHV-HK cable are not publicly disclosed. Without reliable documentation from the operator or industry sources, attributing specific capacity figures or technological features would be speculative. However, given the cable’s strategic role, it is likely to employ modern optical transmission technologies, such as wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), to maximize data throughput.

Latency: the physics

Theoretical latency calculations for the SHV-HK cable indicate a one-way light propagation time of approximately 14.4 milliseconds over its 2,938-kilometer wet segment. This translates to a round-trip time (RTT) floor of 28.8 milliseconds, assuming ideal conditions and propagation speeds of 200,000 to 204,000 km/s in fiber. Real-world latency, however, is higher due to factors such as land-based network tails, terminal equipment, and routing inefficiencies. GeoCables live measurements, which reflect the full internet path rather than the cable itself, report an average RTT of 361.6 milliseconds between Sihanoukville and Tseung Kwan O. The minimum RTT recorded, 24.1 milliseconds, falls below the theoretical floor and is identified as a measurement artifact caused by intermediate router behavior. Careful analysts should disregard such artifacts when assessing cable performance.

Redundancy: what happens if it breaks

In the event of a failure, redundancy for Cambodia’s international connectivity is supported by other submarine cables landing in Sihanoukville, including the Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) and Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) Cable. Similarly, Tseung Kwan O is a landing point for multiple systems, such as Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE)/Cahaya Malaysia, EAC-C2C, SEA-H2X, and TKO Connect. These alternative routes provide resilience for regional and international traffic. Standard industry practices for submarine cable repair include deploying specialized cable ships equipped with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for fault localization and recovery. Repairs typically involve cutting and splicing the damaged section, followed by reburial if necessary.

Bottom line

• The SHV-HK cable spans 2,938 km, connecting Cambodia to Hong Kong.
• Owned by the Government of Cambodia, it is listed as in service with a recorded RFS year of 2026.
• Key technical details, such as design capacity and fiber pairs, are not publicly disclosed.
• Theoretical RTT over the wet segment is 28.8 ms, but real-world latency is higher due to network factors.
• Redundancy is provided by other cables landing at Sihanoukville and Tseung Kwan O.