24 October 2008
The GCC countries are to be connected via an advanced, reliable and scalable submarine cable network provided by Gulf Bridge International (GBI), it was revealed yesterday.
Gulf Bridge International is a GCC-based, privately-owned submarine cable operator backed by a number of high-profile regional and international enterprises such as Knowledge Ventures, Al Madar Telecom and Metel and supported by British Telecom's long established know-how of submarine networks.
During the next two years, GBI will be embarking on a world class project of constructing a submarine cable infrastructure around the Gulf region to be operational in 2011.
The cable's route diversity - achieved through spreading traffic across more than one system - highly improves resilience and will be particularly important for telecom operators, banks, brokerage companies, media, educational institutions, airlines, and other businesses, which rely on real time transactions.
Rashid Alnaimi, chairman of Knowledge Ventures said: "The realisation of a knowledge-based economy and society in the Gulf region is highly dependent on competitive and resilient connectivity, both on the regional and international scale. We trust that introducing GBI's new services will enhance the level of competition and quality on the submarine traffic market."
Suspension of regional Internet services in February 2007 caused by a cable-cut highlighted the demand for a reliable telecommunication infrastructure. The Gulf region is also currently experiencing increasing levels of broadband penetration, coupled with strong growth in the production and the distribution of local content.
The Gulf region is witnessing increased demand for new social networking applications and rich interactive services. The new GBI cable will address this growing demand and bring the Gulf communities closer together by enabling advanced applications that reinforce the social fabric of the Gulf. Major local telecom operators will also have the opportunity to increase content availability for IP Television services such as Video on Demand (VoD) and High Definition (HD) TV channels.
The GCC countries are to be connected via an advanced, reliable and scalable submarine cable network provided by Gulf Bridge International (GBI), it was revealed yesterday.
Gulf Bridge International is a GCC-based, privately-owned submarine cable operator backed by a number of high-profile regional and international enterprises such as Knowledge Ventures, Al Madar Telecom and Metel and supported by British Telecom's long established know-how of submarine networks.
During the next two years, GBI will be embarking on a world class project of constructing a submarine cable infrastructure around the Gulf region to be operational in 2011.
The cable's route diversity - achieved through spreading traffic across more than one system - highly improves resilience and will be particularly important for telecom operators, banks, brokerage companies, media, educational institutions, airlines, and other businesses, which rely on real time transactions.
Rashid Alnaimi, chairman of Knowledge Ventures said: "The realisation of a knowledge-based economy and society in the Gulf region is highly dependent on competitive and resilient connectivity, both on the regional and international scale. We trust that introducing GBI's new services will enhance the level of competition and quality on the submarine traffic market."
Suspension of regional Internet services in February 2007 caused by a cable-cut highlighted the demand for a reliable telecommunication infrastructure. The Gulf region is also currently experiencing increasing levels of broadband penetration, coupled with strong growth in the production and the distribution of local content.
The Gulf region is witnessing increased demand for new social networking applications and rich interactive services. The new GBI cable will address this growing demand and bring the Gulf communities closer together by enabling advanced applications that reinforce the social fabric of the Gulf. Major local telecom operators will also have the opportunity to increase content availability for IP Television services such as Video on Demand (VoD) and High Definition (HD) TV channels.
© Bahrain Tribune 2008
