du announces the launch of the Europe India Gateway submarine cable

du announces the launch of the Europe India Gateway submarine cable

du invests $50 million as one of the leading members of the consortium building the $700 million high-capacity submarine cable .

February 25, 2011 12:19 by Rasha Reslan

In a landmark development, du today announced partial activation of the new Europe India Gateway (EIG) submarine cable –which will enhance capacity and diversity between the UAE and Middle East to Europe and Asia. The EIG submarine cable was conceived by a 16-member consortium of leading regional and international operators responsible for the construction of the $700 million submarine cable system. The company has invested $50 million in the EIG cable system, which will provide greater resilience for du’s customers by enhancing international capacity, reducing the chances of submarine cuts disrupting internet, data and voice services and offering redundancy as well as contributing to greater capacity in the region.

“The launch of the Europe India Gateway Submarine cable system is significant for the UAE, as it builds towards the country becoming a centre-point for connectivity in the region. Investments such as the one in EIG are how du is meeting its commitment to providing quality service to our customers’ growing broadband needs. The delivery of the EIG cable through our new Fujairah Cable Landing Station was recently commissioned with the support of the Fujairah Authorities. This will connect the new system to our resilient and diverse network, thereby positioning the UAE as a regional business destination and giving our customers increased choice and redundancy in the international capacity,” commented Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du.

EIG Consortium members are accepting delivery of more than 11,300 kilometers of the total 15,000 km EIG cable system, which was announced in 2008, and 11 of the 13 cable landing sites. The only remaining segment to be completed for the EIG is in Egypt where there are two landing sites. When

fully activated with the Egypt link, the EIG will be the first direct high-bandwidth optical fibre system from the United Kingdom to India. The 3.84 terabits per second (Tbps) design capacity submarine cable uses dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology to provide upgradeable transmission facilities that support present and future Internet, e-commerce, data, video and voice services.

In addition to complementing existing high-bandwidth cable systems in the region, the EIG will provide much needed diversity for broadband traffic, which currently relies on traditional routes from Europe to India. This diversity is important due to the threat of submarine cable cuts in the region. The system will also significantly enhance capacity and redundancy between the countries of these regions, bringing in considerable diversity and bandwidth into the Middle East while providing global access to operators in the region.

In addition to du’s UAE site, the accepted active EIG cable landing sites include those in the UK, Portugal, Gibraltar, Monaco, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman, India and a terminal site in Marseille, France. The only remaining segment to be completed for the EIG is in Egypt where there are two landing sites. The route segments are London to Bude, UK; Bude to Portugal to Gibraltar to Monaco to Libya; Monaco to Marseille, France; and Saudi Arabia to Djibouti to Oman to United Arab Emirates to India.