KUALA LUMPUR - - An undersea cable system spanning 28,000 km (17,400 miles) and linking Europe, Africa and Asia has been completed, one of its owners said on Saturday.

State-owned Telekom Malaysia said the $638 million fibre-optic cable system would offer a reliable alternative to other East-West submarine cable systems, being the only fully submerged link between Europe and Asia.

"With this system, Telekom Malaysia would be able to support our customer's requirement for voice, data and internet services to all destinations and promote Telekom Malaysia and Malaysia in particular as the regional telecommunication's hub," Telekom Chief Operating Officer Idris Ibrahim said in a statement.

Telekom, which has invested $50 million in the system, said it would further enhance the company's role as a major telecommunications players in Africa.

Telekom has a 30 percent stake in state-controlled Ghana Telecom and together with SBC of the United States own 30 percent of South Africa's phone utility Telkom.

Countries connected by the system include Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Ghana, India and Malaysia.

The system will have an ultimate capacity to convey 5.8 million simultaneous telephone channels or to transfer the contents of 35 DVD disks in one second, said Telekom, one of 36 co-owners of the system.