MUMBAI: The Chinese government has approved plans to lay an undersea cable, to increase the speed at which internet users in the Northern region access overseas websites by up to 50 per cent.

The new network, which is 350 km long, is expected to be opened by the beginning of 2006, and will achieve a total capacity of 80 GB.

Asia Netcom, the international cable arm of state-controlled fixed-line telephone operator China Netcom, has been approved to lay a new undersea cable to connect its current network.

In recent years, undersea cables that linked China with Asia and North America have broken, causing traffic delays and outages for several days.