By Tyco Press Release

MORRISTOWN, NJ, USA – Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the Middle East's first privately owned submarine cable operator, and Tyco Telecommunications, a business unit of Tyco Electronics and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, today announced the signing of the Gulf Bridge International supply and construction contract. GBI's undersea cable network will connect the Gulf region states in a ‘Gulf Ring' system, in addition to an onward connectivity to Far East via India (east route) and Europe via Italy (west route). Service will be ready by 2011.

 

Under the contract, Tyco Telecommunications will be responsible for the design, manufacturing, permitting, deployment, and testing of GBI's undersea cable network, as well as onward connectivity to Europe and India. Fulfillment of the supply contract is subject to pending United States government approvals.

 

“Signing the supply and construction contract is a major milestone for GBI in fulfilling its promise to be the leading independent undersea telecommunications network operator in the Gulf; and in defining a new paradigm of connectivity in the region,” said Hamad Almannai, Executive Vice Chairman of GBI. “During the course of negotiations, we were delighted to see Tyco Telecom's strong commitment to a successful and timely deployment of GBI Cable System,” Almannai added.

 

Tyco Telecommunications is a leading global supplier and has deployed enough undersea cable to circle the earth at least ten times. The GBI cable network, first to be installed in the region in five years, will provide a capacity of 2.56 terabits per second with the option to upgrade to a true 64 x 40Gbps per fiber pair, 5.18 terabit system, enabling real-time communications for telecommunications operators and other major industries, while encouraging a greater sophistication of service offerings in the area.

 

“GBI has confidently chosen Tyco Telecom for the project trusting its advanced technologies and its wealth of human resources to deliver such a large scale project that connects three different continents with the state-of-the-art technology in undersea cable networks; and where GBI's project has such a wide socio-economical impact that reaches beyond achieving some commercial goals, to serving as a development-stimulus for many industry sectors in the region,” said Ahmed Mekky, CEO of GBI.

 

“We are pleased to be awarded the supply and construction contract for the Gulf Bridge undersea network and to be a part of such a crucial project that will provide much-needed bandwidth in the Gulf region,” said David Coughlan, CEO, Tyco Telecommunications. “The system will be built using the latest fiber optic and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technologies, providing essential speed and reliability to the Gulf countries.”