Telecom Egypt, the country’s fixed-line monopoly, said it’s one of a group of 17 companies that will construct a high capacity 25,000 kilometre-cable network running across South-east Asia, Europe and the Middle East that will give some internet users more speed.
Once completed in 2016, the so-called AAE-1 cable will provide an alternative to the existing heavily loaded systems, the Cairo-based company said in a filing with London stock exchange. The cable will pass through countries including, China, Vietnam, India, the UAE, Greece and France, the statement said.
“For more than 100 years, Telecom Egypt has provided the most secure, resilient and reliable route for its international customers to connect their networks between East and West,” Mohammed Elnawawy, the managing director and chief executive of Telecom Egypt, said. “By launching AAE-1, Telecom Egypt can continue to play a pivotal role to the submarine cable industry over its diversified terrestrial network.”
Telecom Egypt will work with telecommunications companies, including Etisalat, China Unicom, Mobily and PCCW Telecommunication. The cable is expected to increase Telecom Egypt’s revenues by 300 million Egyptian pounds (Dh158.1m).
The cable system is to use 100Gbps technology along with the lowest latency route with design capacity of over 40 terabits, the Egyptian company said.
mkassem@thenational.ae
