Wednesday, December 22, 2010

GULF BRIDGE INTERNATIONAL (GBI) AND SUBCOM COMMENCE MARINE OPERATIONS FOR THE GBI CABLE SYSTEM



Cable Loaded onto SubCom’s Reliance Class Ship; First Step towards the High-Capacity Cable Ring Connecting the Entire Gulf Region



DOHA, QATAR and MORRISTOWN, NJ, USA , Wednesday, December 22nd 2010 [ME NewsWire]:

Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the Middle East’s first privately owned submarine cable operator, and its cable system supplier, Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications (SubCom), an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, are pleased to announce the start of marine operations on the GBI Cable System. This week, cable manufactured at the SubCom facility in Newington, NH began loading onto the Reliance Class vessel, Responder. In the coming months, the ship will install the high-capacity GBI Cable System that has been specifically designed to provide greater connectivity, reach and diversity to the entire Gulf region.


Scheduled to launch in 2011, GBI will be the region’s most advanced subsea cable network, providing a capacity of 2.56 terabits per second. The network will offer double landings in Qatar and Fujairah (UAE) with branched landings in Iraq, Kuwait, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman, and will provide onward connectivity to Europe, Africa and Asia.


“We are thrilled to mark the commencement of marine operations for the GBI Cable System and truly look forward to the day when the completed system connects the Gulf region to the world, and the world to the Gulf region” said Mr. Ahmed Mekky, GBI’s CEO. “We remain committed to our ultimate goal of supplying the most advanced broadband carrier services to telecoms operators from around the Gulf and beyond, enabling them to provide their customers with greatly needed capacity, diversity and choice.”


The GBI Cable System will include 4750 km of cable, with SubCom deploying several state of the art technologies, such as new dual-stage repeaters and wavelength monitoring units. The system will be configured as a self-healing ring in the Gulf. Unlike a festoon network, this topology will provide greater protection from cable cuts resulting in a higher quality of service with minimum service disruption. In addition, the system powering will provide for additional layers of redundancy.



“We join with GBI in celebrating the first step in the installation process towards a completed system,” said David Coughlan, president of TE SubCom. “The coming months will be exciting times for both our organizations as we deploy a system that is highly advanced, extremely reliable and capable of having a significant effect on the entire region.”



About Gulf Bridge International

Gulf Bridge International (GBI) is a private company dedicated to connecting all the nations of the Gulf region to one another and to the rest of the world, using the latest fiber optic technologies. The GBI cable will be developed and owned by GCC investors who are building this strategic infrastructure to serve the entire region. GBI intends to be the carrier’s carrier of choice for traffic to and from the Gulf, facilitating social and economic growth in the region



For more information visit www.gbiinc.com



About TE SubCom

Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications (SubCom) is an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services and a leading global supplier for today’s undersea communications requirements. Drawing on its heritage of technical innovation and industry recognized performance, the company delivers the most reliable, high quality solutions to organizations with undersea communications needs vital to their core mission. In more than five decades of operation, SubCom has designed, manufactured, and installed more than 100 undersea fiber optic systems around the world. SubCom’s global presence, backed by industry leading research and development laboratories, manufacturing facilities, installation and maintenance ships, depots, and management team work together to implement integrated solutions and network upgrades, with unsurpassed reliability, that support the needs of telecommunications, internet providers, offshore and science customers worldwide.



For more information visit www.SubCom.com.


For media enquiries, please contact:

Krikor Khatchikian

Cohn & Wolfe Public Relations, Doha, Qatar

+ 974 428 3177

Krikor.Khatchikian@cohnwolfeqatar.com




Courtney McDaniel

TE SubCom

+1 973 656 8000

info@subcom.com

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