Named
SEA-ME-WE-4 (South East Asia- Middle East- Western Europe), the cable,
which was declared fully operational on Tuesday, stretches from France
to Singapore. Designed to cater to the rapidly growing demand for
high-speed connectivity that is especially vital for voice and data
exchanges, Internet and e-commerce.
The
international consortium signed their contract to construct and operate
this latest cable system in Dubai in March 2004 with the objective of
bringing huge benefits to all consortium members and other operators.
"The
new ultra-fast cable will multiply the existing data transfer rate and
is expected to ultimately reach 1.28 Tera bits per second," said Nasser
Bin Obood, Deputy CEO of Etisalat
The
cable project, the fourth in a series connecting three continents over
a distance of almost 20,000 kilometres has a capacity of 1.28 Terabits
per second— equivalent to conducting more than 15 million telephone
calls simultaneously — "heralds a new era in
communications that will undoubtedly lay the foundations for
connectivity for generations to come. We are very proud that such a
diverse and ambitious project has come to its fruition and will be of
benefit to millions of people in different countries and continents,"
he said at a formal inaugural function which was attended by all
consortium partners.
"This
cable will provide connectivity to some countries with whom we, in the
UAE, and perhaps others in the project, have had no direct connection
with so far."
Besides
Etisalat, the 16 companies that form the consortium include Algeria
Telecom (AT), Bharti Tele Ventures (India), Bangladesh Telecom (BTTB),
Telecom Thailand (CAT), France Telecom, MCI, Pakistan Telecom (PTCL),
Singapore Telecom (SingTel), Sri Lankan Telecom (SLT), Saudi Telecom
(STC), Telecom Egypt, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telecom Malaysia, Tunisia
Telecom and VSNL (India).
Ali
Amiri, Executive Vice-President- Operations, Etisalat, said the fast
and easy transfer and distribution of huge amounts of data and
information in a matter of just seconds has now become a basic
requirement for individuals and businesses across the globe. He said
the SEA-ME-WE-4 cable has been operational since November 22, 2005.
"This
cable is yet another milestone in the efforts of international
telecommunications service providers to offer millions of people with
reliable high-speed connectivity."
Mashkoor
Hussain, Senior Executive Vice-President, PTCL, said with the
commissioning of SEA-ME-WE-4 cable system, the international cable
service provider in Pakistan will not only enhance its capability to
meet the increasing demand for both voice and data connectivity in the
country but will also meet the long awaited redundancy and reliability
requirement. It will increase PTCL's competitiveness among its global
counterparts through improved reliability, better security and higher
speed.
Badri
Agarwal, President Infotel, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, said: "The data
market in India has rapidly evolved and is growing at the rate of more
than 100 per cent. The launch and successful commissioning of this
state-of-the-art cable system gives us an edge in servicing the demand
for international bandwidth in India."
"For
Bharti, this cable system further complements our already existing
undersea cable system Network- i2i. We have also enhanced our data
capacity through SEA-ME-WE-4. My congratulations to all the consortium
members and the millions of people who will benefit from the launch of
SEA-ME-WE-4."
N.
Srinath, Executive Director, VSNL, said his company has built and
acquired extensive global submarine cable networks, and is well
positioned to become a major provider of bandwidth and managed services
to carriers and enterprises, globally.
"The
fact that 16 telecommunications companies from different countries
across Asia, Africa and Europe have joined hands to build the cable
underlines the importance of cooperation in a global world. VSNL is
privileged to have been chosen as the Network Administrator of this
cable system. Now with the commissioning of the SEA-ME-WE-4 system, we
will be able to enhance our network coverage in Asia, Africa and
Europe."
Courtesy: Khaleej Times
