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The
Bharti Group of India and Singapore Telecommunications Limited
(SingTel) have just marked the completion of the i2i cable
network, the world's largest in terms of capacity, as well
as the first private cable to link India and Singapore.
The
3,200-km i2i cable lands in Chennai in India and Tuas in
Singapore. It has been developed by Network i2i, a 50:50
joint venture between Bharti and SingTel, at a cost of US$250
million. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects
between Indian and Singaporean companies.
Utilising
the latest Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing technology,
the 8.4 terabits cable system can support 130 million Internet
dial-up connections simultaneously. Construction of the
i2i cable network began in late 2000 and it will begin to
carry commercial traffic within the next four weeks.
Speaking on this president and CEO of SingTel Lee Shine
Yang said: "The i2i cable network is a product of SingTel's
successful collaboration with Bharti. The cable is linked
to SingTel's extensive network in the Asia Pacific and will
enhance telecommunications connectivity between the Indian
sub-continent and East Asia."
The
cable will support Bharti's introduction of IDD services,
another important step in Bharti's vision to be a leading
telecommunications service provider in India."
Chairman
and Group MDirector of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Mittal said,
" The cable will create huge bandwidth capacities that will
help in making the Indian business environment increase
productivity and fuel economic growth."
The
domestic and international long distance markets in India
were liberalised on 1 April 2002. Network i2i expects this
development to stimulate demand for telecommunications services.
CEO
Network i2i Ng Seng Sum said: "The Indian telecommunications
industry has enjoyed some of the highest growth rates in
Asia in recent years.The relatively low penetration rates
for fixed-line and cellular services offer significant potential
for growth. Continued economic development and increasing
use of information technology and the Internet will fuel
demand for international bandwidth."
Lee
and Mittal also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU),
on behalf of SingTel and Bharti respectively, to extend
the partnership between the two companies.
As
part of the MOU, SingTel and Bharti will study the possible
enhancement of the i2i cable network to other parts of Asia,
including the Middle East and Europe. This can be achieved
either through new infrastructure or acquisition of capacity
on other cable systems.
The
two parties will also develop joint programmes to market
the i2i cable and, in support of market liberalisation in
India and Singapore, enable open and non-exclusive access
to the cable for all carriers in the two countries.
SingTel has invested $650 million in the Bharti Group and
presently has an effective stake of 28.5 per cent in Bharti
Tele-Ventures, the listed vehicle of the Group.
Bharti
Tele-Ventures, a company promoted by Bharti Telecom, is
India's leading private sector provider of telecommunications
services based on an aggregate of approximately 1,553,822
customers comprising Internet, National Long Distance and
about 1,274,846 cellular customers (as at 28 February 2002).
Cellular
services currently constitute the largest portion of its
business in terms of total revenues.
SingTel
claims to be Asia's leading communications company with
a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice
and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms.
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