(23 October 2006 8:25 pm)

MUMBAI: Tata group company Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has inked an MoU with global telecom firms to construct a new submarine cable linking India, Middle East and Western Europe (IMEWE).

The company has joined hands with Etisalat, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telecom Italia Sparkle to work jointly on the new submarine cable.

The cable will connect the major countries in the region including India, UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy and France to provide interconnection facilities with several existing and emerging systems in the regions.

The telecom consortium expects to get the IMEWE cable ready for service by mid 2008. The construction contracts are expected to be being awarded by end 2006.

The network, upon its commissioning, will provide high-speed connectivity to the Asian, Middle East, North & East Africa and Western Europe regions, and meet their exponentially growing bandwidth requirements.