HKT plans fourfold AI data centre link upgrade to 3.2Tbps

Hollow-core fibre is expected to cut latency by about 30%. 

HKT plans to roll out a 3.2-terabit-per-second data centre interconnection service designed for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.

In a statement, the proposed AI Data Centre Inter-connect Superhighway will upgrade the group’s existing 800-gigabit-per-second service, increasing its transmission capacity fourfold.

The network will use hollow-core fibre planned between the Lok Ma Chau Loop and Tseung Kwan O. The technology is expected to reduce latency by about 30% compared with traditional fibre.

“The combination of high bandwidth and ultra-low latency keeps thousands of GPUs across data centres working in sync, reducing the time and cost of compute by minimising delays in data transmission,” HKT said.

The network could also reduce power consumption per bit transmitted, it added.

The service will support AI model training and inference operations. It will use standards including Remote Direct Memory Access, RDMA over Converged Ethernet, Multipath Reliable Connection, and Ultra Ethernet Transport.