UAE's global connectivity gets a boost

Dubai: The UAE's global connectivity has been enhanced with the inauguration of a high-speed, high-capacity fibre-optic cable stretching from France to Singapore.

The SEA-ME-WE-4 (South East Asia Middle East Western Europe) is the fourth in a series connecting three continents over 20,000 kilometres. It has been operational for almost three weeks.

It will eventually run at a speed of 1.28 terabits a second, which is equal to making 15 million telephone calls simultaneously.

UAE will also have direct connectivity to several countries, such as Bangladesh for example, with which it has no direct connection currently.

According to Etisalat, key partner in the project, the additional redundancy provided by the cable should reduce interruptions to UAE's telecommunications and internet traffic if a submarine cable is damaged.

In recent months Etisalat's customers have had to endure major slow down in internet services on at least two occasions due to failure of submarine cables.

SEAMEWE 4 will expand Etisalat's capacity and support the existing two cables giving UAE global connectivity.

Etisalat marked the completion of the project with a high profile official inauguration on Tuesday night in Dubai. It was attended by delegations from 16 global telecom carriers who are partners in the project.

"The SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable caters to the rapidly growing demand for high-speed connectivity that is especially vital for today's voice and data exchanges, internet and e-commerce," said Nasser Bin Obood, Etisalat's deputy chief executive officer.

The contract to construct and operate this cable system had been signed by the international consortium in Dubai in March 2004.

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, VSNL (India) and Etisalat.