SingTel, which made key acquisitions in Australia and Indonesia this year, said it will invest $9 million dollars for a service in Japan.

By next year, the company aims to offer the service to clients in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India. It also has data centres in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan.

"SingTel expects to invest about US$280 million over three years to provide these services across Asia," the company said in a statement.

The service allows multinational firms, application service providers and those in Internet-related businesses to outsource their communications networks and web-hosting needs to SingTel.

SingTel president and chief executive Lee Hsien Yang, who was in Japan for the launch, said growth opportunities in the region abound despite the economic downturn.

"As SingTel grows to become Asia's leading telecommunications provider, we will continue to extend our presence in Japan," Lee said, adding that Internet use in Japan is among the highest in Asia.

"Despite the current economic downturn, we believe that the Asia-Pacific still offers tremendous opportunities for growth in telecommunications services," he said in a speech, copies of which were released here.

SingTel boosted its ambition of becoming a pan-Asian telecommunications giant with the nine-billion dollar acquisition of Australia's second largest telecoms player Cable and Wireless Optus earlier this year.

Last month, it bought a 22.3 percent stake in PT Telekomunikasi (Telekomsel), Indonesia's largest mobile carrier for $602 million.

The company has stakes in other key Asian carriers including Globe Telecom of the Philippines, India's Bharti Group, Thailand's Advanced Info Service and New Century Infocomm of Taiwan.

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