Partner news, from the Alcatel thread:
ALCATEL TO SUPPLY A DWDM WET AND DRY OPTICAL NETWORK TO CONNECT EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN INTERNET USERS TO THE U.S.
The first DWDM network in the region
Paris, May 30, 2000 - Alcatel, the world leader in optical networking, and Mediterranean Nautilus, a company under the control of Telecom Italia, have signed an ITP letter for a submarine and terrestrial DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) network in the Eastern Mediterranean. The repeatered system, named MED Nautilus 1 (MN1), will link, with a capacity close to 4 Tbit/s, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, and will stretch across an approximately 7,000 km long route. It will be connected to the U.S., allowing end-users to benefit from high-speed Internet access.
Alcatel will provide a 6-fiber pair cable based on the very latest DWDM technology, offering 64 wavelength at 10 Gbit/s per fiber pair. Furthermore, the contract comprises the full submarine system including, at each terminal station, the network management and the SDH terrestrial transmission interface equipment up to STM-1. It is the first time that such a network is built in Eastern Mediterranean, regarding the technology used - DWDM - and the capacity.
The entire network will be operational by second half of 2001.
"We are confident that Alcatel will provide us a state of the art network", stated Amos Lasker, CEO Mediterranean Nautilus Ltd, a company whose activities are focused on the
Mediterranean area for the offering of city to city international connectivity for Internet, voice and data as well as hosting services. "This system, together with the Telecom Italia worldwide network, will permit Mediterranean Nautilus to accomplish the goal of facilitating Internet
explosion between the Eastern part of Mediterranean and all the main cities in Europe and in the Americas".
"The selection of Alcatel to develop a new wet and dry network demonstrates once more our world leadership in global optical networking," commented Christian Reinaudo,
President of Alcatel Optics. "We are once again breaking new ground for DWDM technologies, this time in the Eastern Mediterranean. For Alcatel, it represents a new opportunity to work again with Mediterranean Nautilus and its main shareholder, Telecom Italia."
The self-healing ring will link the following landing points: Catania and Mazara del Vallo (or Palermo, Italy), Alexandria (Egypt), Tel Aviv and Haifa (Israel), Yeroskipos (Cyprus), Istanbul (Turkey) thanks to a branching unit off the coast of Crete, Chania (Greece.) Elettra, a well-known Italian company dedicated to marine activities, that is fully owned by the Telecom Italia Group, will carry out the marine survey and the cable laying operations.
About Mediterranean Nautilus
On may 18th, has been signed the agreement related to the constitution of Mediterranean Nautilus. Telecom Italia will own 51% of the Capital. The remaining shares are divided among the Israelian partners Aurec (9%), Clalcom (15%), Globescom (15%), Kama (10%).
Mediterranean Nautilus will provide a global telecommunications infrastructure and facilities
consisting of fiber optic network equipped with the "state of the art" technology which enable City to City connections. |
