Alcatel to supply network link to Sicily for Vodafone

Vodafone Malta has chosen Alcatel to build a Malta-Sicily submarine cable system. This project will link Vodafone Malta and Sicily with a high-capacity, fibre-optic link and will increase data bandwidth availability and international voice capacity.

In Malta, there is currently only one cable system which supports all voice, data and Internet requirements.

Alcatel will supply a submarine fibre cable spanning approximately 250 km, land cable and transmission equipment. The submarine cable will be laid on the seabed at a maximum depth of 3,000 meters after an extensive survey of the sea bed is carried out between Malta and Catania, using a ship equipped with sonar and other sophisticated survey equipment.

With armoured steel protection, the cable is designed to withstand the harshest sea environment. During operation, the cable system will be monitored 24 hours a day from the Vodafone Malta Operations Centre in Birkirkara.

The initial capacity of the system is 2.5 Gbits/sec with the potential to increase the capacity over 1 Tbit/sec, making the system future proof in terms of capacity expansion.

Vodafone Malta was granted an International Gateway licence in January, upon liberalisation of international gateway services. The Vodafone Malta-Sicily cable system is a component of the International Gateway project whereby Vodafone Malta will be providing international telecommunication services between Malta and other countries.

Vodafone Malta managing director Joseph C. Grioli said: "The Vodafone International Gateway is expected to be operational by summer 2004. This will be very beneficial for the Maltese islands.

This project will strengthen Malta's international telecommunications infrastructure and will also increase the capacity for the projected future demand of the Internet and related services.

Furthermore, it will create a competitive market for international voice and IP services," he said.

"The Vodafone Malta-Sicily cable system will ensure a secure international interconnection to the Maltese Islands and we are pleased to be working with Alcatel on such an important project."

"Building on more than 150 years of experience in the submarine cable business, Alcatel is committed to offering its customers the highest level of expertise," Jean Godeluck, president of Alcatel's submarine activity, said.

"Leveraging Alcatel's state-of-the-art cableship fleet, highly reliable cable technology and project management expertise, Alcatel is pleased to support Vodafone in the development of Malta's international telecommunication infrastructure.

Today Alcatel is the worldwide leader of the submarine market and has deployed over 450,000 km of submarine networks - 11 times the circumference of the globe - stretching from Europe to Japan, along the length of the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean.