Mobily and six telecom operators from five countries collaborate on Regional Cable Network (RCN) Project

Seven operators, including Superonline, a Turkcell Group company, from Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria today announced that they are building the Middle East’s longest redundant terrestrial communications infrastructure along a 7,750 kilometer round trip route. The RCN project will extend from the city of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul in Turkey and then to Europe and will serve as a gateway to the Internet for 2 billion people.

The RCN project was signed by the seven telecom operators during a ceremony held today in Ankara. The event was attended by the Minister of Transport and Communications Binali Y?ld?r?m, RCN Project Interim Consortium Chairman Ali Amiri, the CEO’s of the founder members of the Consortium; including Turkcell CEO S¼reyya Ciliv, Mobily COO Mr. Abdulaziz Altamami, Jordan Telecom Group CEO Mrs. Nayla Khawam, Mada Group Managing Director Charles Hage , Syrian Telecommunications Establishment Director General Nazem Bahsas and Superonline CEO Murat Erkan.

The Middle East’s longest redundant terrestrial fiber Internet infrastructure

Starting from Fujairah (United Arab Emirates) and passing through Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Amman (Jordan), Tartous (Syria) and reaching Istanbul (Turkey), the RCN project’s fiber optic cable line will cover the entire Gulf region in the Middle East for the first time through a uniform infrastructure. 3,875 km in radial length and totaling 7,750 km with its round trip routes, the RCN project will become the region’s longest redundant terrestrial fiber infrastructure between Fujairah, one of the busiest nodes for submarine and fiber cables, and the West.

“Our participation in the regional cable network comes as part of our commitment to contribute to the regional and global connectivity by expanding the reach of our robust, reliable and trusted Saudi National Fiberoptic Network through having multiple routes available for data communication traffic originating from inside the Kingdom or transiting from the networks of other operators”

Turkcell CEO S¼reyya Ciliv: “The world’s newest Internet base is Istanbul”

Speaking at the Signing Ceremony, Turkcell CEO S¼reyya Ciliv emphasized Turkcell’s satisfaction at this joining of forces between powerful, excellent organizations intent on technological leadership in a region where Turkey and the Turkcell Group are major players. Drawing attention to the changing global economic situation, S¼reyya Ciliv remarked that the RCN project, which is noteworthy for its capacity and its diversified structure, is planned to accommodate specific requirements to bring significant advantages to the region by connecting it to the world via Turkey. Predicting that the RCN infrastructure would promote growth of Internet penetration in the region, Mr. Ciliv said, “This will enable still wider Internet expansion as Internet use will become even faster throughout the region.”

He added, “Through this gigantic infrastructure project which starts in the United Arab Emirates and runs the entire length of Turkey, we are building an Internet highway between Fujairah and Istanbul. The RCN project will allow Internet traffic from so far has struggled along a narrow pathway to comfortably reach the speed of a multi-lane highway. One of the key stops along this route will be Istanbul. Positioned in the project as the Middle East’s Internet gateway to Europe, Istanbul is poised to become the world’s newest Internet base due to its geostrategic location. We, the Turkcell Group, are proud to be making such a beneficial investment for Istanbul, for Turkey, and for the region changing lives by offering users an enhanced communications experience.”

Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Communications Binali Y?ld?r?m: “RCN will foster greater capacity in communicating with the countries in the region, as well as greatly benefiting business relations and trade.”

Minister of Transport and Communications Binali Y?ld?r?m stressed that the RCN project would create a welcome opportunity for investors in the countries involved to access their investments and businesses in other countries. Commenting that the establishment of this fiber optic network would help boost Turkey’s communication volumes, business relations and trade within other countries in the region, Mr. Y?ld?r?m said, “We regard this project as one of the fruits of our successful foreign policy. This cooperation between five countries will further enhance the already close relations we have been cultivating recently across in the region.”

Minister of Transport and Communications Mr. Y?ld?r?m went on to say, “The RCN project is a high-capacity infrastructural system that is far more economical, much more reliable, and – most importantly – diversified into two separate routes. Our geographical positioning allows us to develop this hugely valuable piece of Internet infrastructure. As the Transport and Communications Minister of the Republic of Turkey, I am especially pleased that our country is becoming one of the world’s key fiber optic nodes. My heartfelt congratulations go to all the companies taking part in the project, notably the Turkcell Group. This is a project for the whole world to envy and I hope it proves auspicious to Turkey and the region.”

RCN Project Consortium Chairman Ali Amiri, Executive Vice President / Carrier & Wholesale Services Etisalat UAE: “A project unmatched in speed, quality, redundancy, and reliability.”

Addressing the ceremonial assembly, Consortium Chairman Ali Amiri described the RCN as being unmatched in terms of speed, quality, ease of upgrade, redundancy, and reliability. Recalling that the dual fiber lines would cross five countries and intersect in five cities, Amiri stated that this infrastructure has the ability to provide the tremendous capacity of 12,8 terabits per second. “The demand for intercontinental connectivity continues to grow at a remarkable rate. The region’s governments are encouraging investment in new technologies to bolster the performance of their national economies. Operators are deploying Next- Generation Networks for both fixed-line and wireless environments which in turn allow an increasing volume of services to be provided to ever more consumers. These factors as well as the growing technical literacy of the local population and availability of rich local content are all driving the demand for ever more capacity. Etisalat is delighted to partner with six of the region’s leading operators in a project which will enhance the lives and increase the reach of over two billion people ,” Amiri said.

RCN Project: 12.8 Terabits/second capacity with a diversified system

Designed to stretch from Fujairah to Istanbul and offer connectivity to Europe through more than 15 access points readily available on the Bulgarian and Greek borders of Turkey, RCN infrastructure boasts a data carrying capacity of 12.8 Terabit per second. 2.4 Terabit per second of capacity will be activated initially along the two different routes and the fiber optic cables will follow. In contrast to similar systems, all the operators taking part in RCN, will dedicate fibers on both routes exclusively to RCN, paving the way to immediately upgrade or re-route the entire path when needed.

Seven operators from five countries, half a billion dollar worth of investment

The RCN project brings together top telecom companies from five countries. Each a leader in communication technology in their respective countries, Etisalat (UAE), Mobily

(Saudi Arabia), Jordan Telecom/Orange Jordan and Mada-Zain Partnership (Jordan), Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (Syria), and Superonline (Turkey) have signed their names to the Project. With an approximate investment value of half a billion dollars, the fiber optic line will be operational in the second quarter of 2011.

More reliable, redundant and faster Internet for 2 billion people

With the potential to directly serve the largest population in the Middle East region, the RCN project will ensure more reliable, redundant and faster Internet connectivity for roughly 2 billion people with its diversified route. Envisaged to satisfy the Internet demand in the countries involved and to become the preferred route for transit traffic across all the countries it passes through, this Project will increase speeds throughout the region.