Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the Middle East’s first privately owned submarine cable operator, and TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. Company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, announced the completion of works of the GBI cable system segments within the Gulf, the Gulf to India, the Gulf to Egypt, across Egypt and across the Mediterranean to Italy.
GBI and TE SubCom are working together to achieve a final Ready for Service across the whole network within the coming few weeks.
“This achievement is a significant milestone for the Gulf region, which continues to experience unprecedented economic and social growth,” said Rashed Al Noaimi, Chairman, GBI . “The GBI cable system will facilitate both well into the future.”
Ahmed Mekky, Board Member and CEO of GBI , adds, “ It has always been our mission to deliver greater communications capacity and reliability to support the on-going growth in the region. TE SubCom has helped us accomplish that by completing a large scale project that connects three different regions of the world, in a timely manner.”
With a capacity of at least 5.18 terabits, the GBI cable system will enable real-time communications for telecommunications operators and other major industries, while encouraging a greater sophistication of service offerings. It is the first system of its kind to be installed in the region in more than a decade.
“We are pleased to have reached this stage with the ‘Gulf Ring’ system alongside GBI and to have been a part of such a vital project for the Gulf region, where new subsea communications systems have been scarce,” said David Coughlan, CEO, TE SubCom . “The system will provide essential connectivity, capacity and resiliency to the Gulf countries and will enable future network expansion to meet mounting business needs in the region.”
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , December 19, 2011; Image: GBI