Qtel-Tata Gulf network project confirmed

The project, which will be activated in September 2011, is a state-of-the-art Gulf-wide undersea cable network connecting the Gulf Region directly to the world's major business hubs and city centres, improving connectivity and providing the foundations for next generation communication technology. Other regional partners in this project are the Bahrain Internet Exchange in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Nawras of Oman, Mobily of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates. Qtel will be giving $30m to connect to the cable.

The development of the cable project will support the deployment of an extended portfolio of advanced telecommunications services such as Global Ethernet, MPLS-based VPN and Global Telepresence.

Qtel's engagement with the project will have important benefits for the people of Qatar. In particular, the connection with a global cable network will increase redundancy and reduce the impact of disruptive events such as cable breaks and communication cuts. It will also ensure better global connectivity for businesses and provide strong support for international companies looking to position regional offices in Qatar. "This project is important... as we have mentioned, part of Qtel's strategies is focused on Broadband and of course, it needs a higher speed of connectivity to the customers... It is important for us to expand and have more connectivity to international cable," said Dr. Nasser Marafih, Qtel's CEO, during a press conference at the Sharq Village and Spa. The press conference was also attended by Vinod Kumar, President and COO of Tata Communication.

"The idea is to provide speed of a range of 100 MB and above to customers and entertain services like high definition TV and high-speed Internet... This is an important project that brings together the leading operators in the Gulf to support the communication interests of the region. The new cable system will provide reliable high-speed bandwidth for all, giving operators more developed infrastructure to build on and support their broadband expansion plans. Most importantly, it will enhance communication security and reliability for the people of Qatar, adding significantly to our international cabling network," said Marafih.

Through the TGN-Gulf Cable System, people in Qatar will have access to new, high-speed global routing that will encourage expansion in broadband penetration, Internet usage and enterprise applications, and can look forward to faster and more reliable bandwidth, while the more resilient and diverse cable structure will benefit generations to come. It will also provide important support for strategically-significant projects for Qatar, such as the roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH).

"The TGN Gulf Cable System, acting as a gateway to the TGN network, will provide a new dimension to the infrastructure and unique service capabilities of each of the partners. Qtel's participation in this project demonstrates its commitment to offering a robust and unique service portfolio to people across the region," said Vinod Kumar, President and COO of Tata Communications.

Using its own cable station, each party to the TGN cable system will have access to a new high-speed route to the globe and at the same time add much needed diversity to the their infrastructure.

Qtel and Tata Communication have worked together for many years to meet Qatar's ever-growing requirements for international data and voice services. Under the terms of an earlier agreement signed in June of 2009, the two companies are aligning their infrastructures to provide secure, scalable and flexible connectivity solutions including Ethernet, MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) and a wide variety of managed services to their global customers.