4:30 AM -- Facebook has invested an unspecified sum in the US$450 million regional subsea cable Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) to secure some guaranteed capacity on the 10,000-kilometer submarine network that will connect eight countries in South-East Asia.

Facebook stated in an email to Light Reading: "We have entered into a consortium with several international telecom companies to jointly build, own, and operate a new submarine communications cable that will be known as the Asia Pacific Gateway. Our investment in this cable will help support our growth in South Asia, making it possible for us to provide a better user experience for a greater number of Facebook users in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore."

The other companies investing in the APG include China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL), China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA), China Unicom Ltd. (NYSE: CHU), NTT Communications Corp. (NYSE: NTT), KT Corp. and Malaysia's Time dotCom Bhd. (See Malaysia's Time Helps Build APG, Carriers Boost Transpacific Links and Asia Pacific Gateway Networks Uses 40G.)

NEC Corp. (Tokyo: 6701) is the lead network construction contractor. The network is due to go into service in the third quarter of 2014.

Facebook says this is the only subsea network in which it has invested.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading