To enhance connectivity between India and the UK, 15 major telecom players across the globe, including India?s Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday signed the formal construction and maintenance agreement (C&MA) to build the first direct, high-bandwidth optical-fibre submarine cable system from the UK to India.
To be set up at an investment of $700 million, the Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable system would become operational in second quarter of 2010. The EIG cable system is a 15,000 kilometre (9,000 mile) system that will connect 13 countries and three continents with landings planned in the UK, Portugal, Gibraltar, Morocco, Monaco, France, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman, United Arab Emirates and India.
The other members of the EIG cable consortium include AT&T, BT, C&W, Djibouti Telecom, Du, Gibtelecom, IAM, Libyan Telecom, MTN Group, Omantel, PT Comunica??es, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telkom and Verizon Business.
The state-of-the-art, next generation cable system is designed to provide up to 3.84 terabits (Tbps) using dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing (DWDM) technology to provide upgradeable transmission facilities that support Internet, e-commerce, video, data and voice. The EIG cable system will, hence, provide the much needed diversity for broadband traffic currently relying largely on traditional routes from Europe to India.
?There is a tremendous rise in use of data and broadband applications among enterprises and consumers globally, and India is no exception. Whether it is large enterprises leveraging communications technologies to compete in a truly global environment or consumers seeking real-time entertainment over the Internet, international connectivity has become a vital part of our lives and hence a need for a reliable global networking solutions,? says David Nishball, president (enterprise services), Bharti Airtel.
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.
