Etisalat, Airtel launch fibre optic cable from India to Europe
UAE-based telecom major, Etisalat has launched a high capacity fibre optic submarine cable that stretches from India to Europe, in collaboration with eight other global telecom players, including Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications.
According to Etisalat’s statement, the 13,000-km three pair fiber optic cable named IMEWE (India-Middle East-Western Europe), has a design capacity of 3.84 terabits per second, connecting India to Italy and France via Middle East, with landings en-route in Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.
It added that the IMEWE consortium comprises of nine major telecom companies — Bharti Airtel (India), Etisalat (UAE), France Telecom-Orange (France), OGERO (Lebanon), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (Pakistan), Saudi Telecom Company STC,(Saudi Arabia), Telecom Egypt (Egypt), Telecom Italia Sparkle (Italy), and Tata Communications (India).
According to Etisalat Carrier and Wholesale Services Executive Vice-President Ali Amiri, the extra capacity and reliability provided by the IMEWE cable will not only delight customers across the region and bring great benefit to UAE as a whole but will also respond to substantial growth in capacity requirements due to surge in broadband demand witnessed by the region.
He added that their participation in the IMEWE is an example of this vision taken from and they expect to see great results in terms of both the performance of their network and an enhanced customer experience.
IMEWE is the third major submarine cable operational between India and Europe after SMW3 and SMW4 and is expected to play a major role in meeting ever growing bandwidth requirement of Indian sub-continent and Middle East to Europe and beyond.
IMEWE broadband submarine cable begins operations, links the Middle East to India and Europe
France Telecom-Orange announced that the new India Middle East Western Europe (IMEWE) submarine cable was officially lit on December 10. The submarine cable network serves eight countries: India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy and France. The link, mapped below, comprises 13,000 km of fiber-optic cable.
France Telecom-Orange group said it brought together several major partners in an international consortium for the project, including Bharti, Etisalat, Ogero, Pakistan Telecom, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telecom Italia Sparkle, and Tata Communications.
Besides providing high-speed connections between Europe, the Middle East, and India, IMEWE offers an alternate route to secure the broadband telecommunications carried by the Sea-Me-We 4 cable linking Southeast Asia to Western Europe.
IMEWE has a potential capacity of 3.84 Tbps. The system was designed to migrate towards new 40-Gbps technology.
The construction of the IMEWE cable represented a total investment of around $480 million, about $60 million of which came from France Telecom-Orange.
IMEWE submarine cable launched for commercial use
A consortium of nine telecom operators has announced the commercial launch of fibre-optic submarine cable IMEWE (India- Middle East- Western Europe).
The 13000 kilometers long three pair fiber optic cable named IMEWE has a design capacity of 3.84 terabits per second, and is also the most advanced cable connecting India in South Asia to Italy and France in Western Europe via the Middle East with landings enroute in Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.
The IMEWE consortium comprises of telcos such as Bharti Airtel (India), Etisalat (UAE), France Telecom-Orange (France), OGERO (Lebanon), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (Pakistan), Saudi Telecom Company STC (Saudi Arabia), Telecom Egypt (Egypt), Telecom Italia Sparkle (Italy), and Tata Communications (India).
IMEWE is the third major submarine cable operational between India and Europe after SMW3 and SMW4 and is expected to play a major role in meeting ever growing bandwidth requirement of Indian sub continent and Middle East to Europe and beyond. IMEWE system would also play a key role in expansion of broadband services among masses in concerned countries.
Former Italian telecoms executives called up for legal proceedings
Silvio Scaglia, billionaire founder of Swisscom subsidiary Fastweb, and Stefano Mazzitelli, former chief executive of Telecom Italia Sparkle and Gennaro Mokbel, appeared in court on Tuesday for the first hearing for Italy’s major case of tax fraud and money laundering.
The tax avoidance scam allegedly involved the creation of paper companies and invoices for US$2.6 billion of fictitious operations. Only 30 defendants appeared in court on Tuesday. Some of the accused have entered plea bargains while others have opted for a separate judicial process. The defendants were not asked to enter their pleas at this point.
This was Mr Scaglia’s first public appearance since February, when he was arrested on his return to Italy to respond to the accusations against him. Since spending two months in Rome’s Rebibbia prison, Mr Scaglia has been under house arrest. He has been served a rare gag order by judges, allowing him to communicate only with his wife and lawyers.
Mr Scaglia and Mr Mazzitelli deny charges of criminal conspiracy to commit tax fraud. Both broadband companies deny any involvement in the alleged tax fraud scam and claim that they were also victims of fraud.
Judge Bruno Costantini scheduled the next hearing for November 23. He has also ordered that the case should be moved to another section of the Rome courts for procedural reasons.
On the request of several lawyers in the courtroom, the judge decided that nine accused who are currently held in prisons outside the region may be transferred to facilities close to Rome.
Telecom Italia Sparkle & Link2One sign agreement
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecom Italia Sparkle and roaming hub provider Link2One entered into a strategic partnership for Link2One’s roaming hub, a hosted solution which enables operators to accelerate the provision of roaming services to customers worldwide.
A simple alternative to bilateral roaming agreements is provided by Link2One and with just one agreement and one connection, operators can be up and running almost instantly on a single IMSI roaming hub.
This gives maximum roaming coverage not only on voice but also GPRS and 3G, with the same service level and capabilities as with traditional bilateral roaming agreements.
TI Sparkle chosen by Virgin mobile to provide international voice traffic
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A new voice outsourcing agreement has been signed by Telecom Italia Sparkle and Omer Telecom that will make TI Sparkle the provider of Virgin Mobile France’s international voice traffic. Omer Telecom is the joint venture between the Virgin Group and Carphone Warehouse, marketing the Virgin Mobile brand in France.
TI Sparkle will provide Virgin Mobile France with state-of-the-art business and technology expertise gained through the management of over 20 billion minutes of international voice traffic exchanged via a global set of fixed and mobile terminations, over 1,300 specific breakouts and more than 500 direct interconnections.
According to Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux CEO of Virgin Mobile France, due to this agreement, Virgin Mobile France will significantly reduce its cost base, improve overall profitability and increase efficiency while at the same time maintaining full control of its international voice business
Italia Sarkle’s IP backbone extended to Bucharest and Istanbul
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Complementing the undisputed leadership position of Telecom Italia Sparkle throughout the whole Mediterranean basin, SEABONE, its global 1.5Tbps IP backbone has been extended to Bucharest (Romania) and Istanbul (Turkey). IP connectivity solution is now offered by SEABONE to the local Balkan and international communities of ISPs, ASPs and content providers.
A unique, ring-based topology submarine cable system in the Mediterranean Basin is run by Nautilus (MedNautilus) which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sparkle in Turkey. Telehouse and Data Centre facility in Istanbul has also been constructed and currently offers IP transit and connectivity solutions and also host services. 2010 will witness the launch of SDH/DWDM services.
According to Francesco Armato, CEO of Telecom Italia Sparkle, the local availability of the top-performing global IP and data solutions in Turkey and Romania will benefit both existing and future customers in these countries, by satisfying their increasing and sophisticated connectivity needs.
VSNL Q2 net profits up by 18 per cent to Rs.107 crore
International telecommunications major VSNL today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2006.
The Company’s revenues on a standalone basis grew by 5% for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 to Rs.1,005 Crores against Rs.961 Crores for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. Operating profits improved by 4% for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 to Rs.198 Crores against Rs.190 Crores for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.
Net profits of the Company increased by 18% to Rs.107 Crores for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 against Rs.91 Crores for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.
Volumes in the Company’s wholesale voice and enterprise & carrier data businesses continued to grow significantly; enterprise and carrier data revenues grew 25% on a quarter to quarter basis, in spite of price cuts announced during the quarter.
VSNL’s revenues for the half year ended September 30, 2006 stood at Rs. 1,961 Crores against Rs.1,890 Crores for the six month period ended September 30, 2005. Net profits for the half year ended September 30, 2006 were Rs.195 Crores.
During the quarter, the company announced a reduction in the prices of International Private Leased Circuits and Internet Leased Lines by upto 25% and 40% respectively. VSNL also announced plans to build two submarine cable systems. The company’s plans have made swift progress with an MoU being signed with Etisalat, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, and Telecom Italia sparkle for the construction of the India-Middle East-Western Europe .
Source- http://www.prdomain.com
