Omantel in UK-India cable deal

Omani telecom Omantel said Wednesday it was part of a global consortium that would build a $700 million submarine cable system between India and the UK.

Europe India Gateway, a 15,000-kilometre, high-bandwidth optical-fibre system connecting 13 countries across three continents, will be constructed by a group of 16 global telecommunications firms and is expected to carry video, data and voice traffic by the second quarter of 2010.

Omantel will invest around $50 million in the project, which has planned landings in the UK, Portugal, Gibraltar, Morocco, Monaco, France, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman, the UAE and India.

EIG will provide seamless interconnection with other major cable systems connecting Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, and would help meet present and future growth in traffic between the targeted regions, the consortium said in a statement.