Challenges aside, STM continued to adopt new technologies as they emerged and to offer these to its customer base. Corporate Information Superhighway (COINS) was launched, a globally linked fibre optic backbone capable of transmitting digital signals at 10 Mbit/s, which was among the fastest of such service in the world. At the same time, the process of transforming the Main Trunk Route network from analogue to digital began, and was completed by 2000. This transformation received a boost once the RM150 million Kuantan-Kota Kinabalu submarine fibre optic cable became operational. For the first time, too, STM invested in a new optical fibre submarine cable system linking Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Each optic fibre in the cable system could carry traffic at 560 Mbit/s, equivalent to 30,000 simultaneous phone calls.