E-Marine set to commence work on Submarine Cable Project
Abu Dhabi : 21-Aug-2004
Emirates Telecommunications & Marine Services FZE (E-Marine), a subsidiary of UAE's Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (ETISALAT), will commence work on the $500 million Southeast Asia, Middle East & Western Europe (SMW4) project in November 2004, with completion slated for April 2005. ETISALAT's cable ship Niwa, docked at Port Zayed and set to take part in the submarine cable installation, is being prepared for the project. The vessel will lay 5,500 kilometres of the 20,000-kilometre cable, linking (15) countries from Singapore to France across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. E-Marine secured the contract from France's Alcatel Submarine Networks this year. Once operational, the cable will be able to handle 20 million voice calls or 60,000 broadcast television channels simultaneously. It will provide high-speed telecom links between these 15 countries, thus contributing to narrowing the digital divide between developed and developing countries.
