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Flag Telecom, Level 3 tie up for Pan-Asia submarine cable system
Flag Telecom, Level 3 tie up for Pan-Asia submarine cable system
from India Abroad News Service
New Delhi, Jan 10 - Global network services provider Flag Telecom and the
U.S.-based communications and information services major Level 3
Communications, Inc. have entered into alliance for a new multi-terabit
intra-Asia submarine cable system.
The six-fiber pair system is designed to offer intra-regional, city-to-city
connectivity between the high traffic centers of Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo and
Taipei, a joint press statement said here Wednesday.
Level 3's existing North Asian cable system, which is currently under
development, will form the eastern leg of the new system connecting Hong
Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Flag Telecom will develop the western leg,
connecting Hong Kong, Korea and Japan.
"The first link of the system, between Hong Kong and Japan, is expected to
enter service in the second quarter of 2001. Flag Telecom will be
responsible for the integration of the eastern and western links of the
system," the statement said.
The whole system will be over 10,000 km in length and will be managed and
operated by Flag Telecom. The total cost of the entire system is estimated
to be $900 million, it added.
"This agreement with Level 3 marks another major step in our strategy to
develop a low-cost, scaleable global IP (Internet protocol) network to
support our expanding network services business," Ed McCormack, chief
operating officer of Flag Telecom, said.
Flag Telecom expects to fund the costs of the system through a combination
of cash on hand and pre-sales, he added.
Steve Liddell, chief executive officer of Level 3 Asia, said that the
agreement would allow the company to gain a diverse ring system by sharing
the development and operating expenses with an industry partner and
accelerate its speed to new markets.
"The system will be the first multi-terabit cable to enter commercial
service in Asia giving us the first mover advantage in the market and the
ability to offer international broadband connectivity at industry leading
pricing," Liddell said.
The Eastern leg of cable system is ahead of schedule having already landed
in Hong Kong. The cable will land in Korea and Taiwan later this year.
Being fabricated by Alcatel and Fujitsu, the intra-Asia submarine cable
system is expected to offer an initial combined capacity of 320 giga bytes
per second (gbps), upgradeable to 2.5-3.8 tera byte per second (tbps).
Flag Telecom has an exclusive arrangement with India's state-run Internet
service provider (ISP) Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL). Flag's submarine
cable landing station in Mumbai is owned by VSNL under an agreement signed
between the two companies in 1997.
As part of the agreement, VSNL has the exclusive rights to market the
capacity in India though it has bought only 155 mbps from Flag for 25 years
and Flag is not allowed to sell bandwidth capacity to private ISPs on its
own.
-- India Abroad News Service
