LONDON, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Major leaders of the global
telecommunications industry Tuesday (May 6) signed a construction and
maintenance agreement (C&MA) to build the first direct, high-bandwidth
optical-fiber submarine cable system from the United Kingdom to India. The
Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable system, which will cost more than US$700
million, will significantly enhance capacity and diversity between the
countries of these regions.
Sixteen telecommunications companies are investing in the project:
AT&T; Bharti Airtel; BT; Cable &Wireless; Djibouti Telecom; Du; Gibtelecom;
IAM; Libyan Post, Telecom and Information Technology Company; MTN Group
Ltd; Omantel; PT Comunicacoes, S.A.; Saudi Telecom Company; Telecom Egypt;
Telkom SA Ltd; and Verizon Business.
The EIG cable system, targeted to be operational in the second quarter
of 2010, is a 15,000-kilometer (9,000-mile) system that will connect three
continents. Thirteen landings are planned in the United Kingdom, Portugal,
Gibraltar, Morocco, Monaco, France, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti,
Oman, United Arab Emirates and India. In addition to serving these regions,
the EIG cable system will also provide seamless interconnection with other
major cable systems connecting Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The
system will utilize state-of-art next-generation technology that is
designed to provide up to 3.84 terabits per second (Tbps) using dense
wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) to provide upgradeable transmission
facilities that support Internet, e-commerce, video, data and voice
services.
In addition to complementing existing high-bandwidth cable systems in
the region, the EIG cable system will provide much-needed diversity for
broadband traffic currently relying largely on traditional routes from
Europe to India. This is important, considering the threat of earthquakes
in this region. The EIG cable system, with its large bandwidth and
high-quality transmission technology, will help meet the present and future
growth in telecommunications traffic between the targeted regions.
In addition to the C&MA signing, the EIG Consortium also signed a
supply contract with Alcatel-Lucent and Tyco Telecommunications for the
cable system's construction.
SOURCE Verizon Business
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Related links:
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html /
CONTACT:
Jo Perrin, + 44 770 252 5868,
jo.perrin@verizonbusiness.com, or Linda Laughlin, +
1-918-590-5595, linda.laughlin@verizonbusiness.com, both of
Verizon Business
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