By Oman Daily Observer
Global telecom giant Cable & Wireless Worldwide is set to launch work on a project that will establish a new submarine cable connection between Oman and Western Europe. Dubbed the Europe-Persia Express Gateway (EPEG), the submarine cable project is the first fibre system that will provide an alternative, more direct and robust connectivity solution linking Western Europe directly to the Gulf Region.
Developing the EPEG cable system is a consortium that includes Omantel, Russian Rostelecom, TIC and Cable & Wireless Worldwide. The system was specifically designed to provide high-speed, reliable connectivity solutions between Oman and Frankfurt, Germany. When completed, it will have an initial capacity of 540 Gbps with design capacity up to 3.2 Tbps. The shortest route is 9,430 km with a round-trip latency between Frankfurt, Germany and Barka, Oman measuring at 91.97 ms.
Last June, Omantel inked a deal with the three international telecom partners to be part of this submarine cable venture. EPEG system will provide a major alternative cable route from Oman to Europe. At present, cables mainly go through Egypt and Gulf of Suez.
