Tata Communications, a leading global provider of a new world of communications, said it has earmarked around $200 million for the development of its telecom operations in the Middle East region over the next two years.

The Indian group also said it will partner with Middle Eastern telecom operators and work with US-based Tyco Telecommunications to build the Tata Global Network (TGN) Gulf cable project.

Tata Communications' partners in the TGN Gulf project include Bahrain Internet Exchange, Nawras of Oman, Qatar Telecom, Saudi Arabia's Mobily and Etisalat. Each of them will be an exclusive landing party for the TGN Gulf Cable System.

The announcement was made at a gala event in Dubai hosted by Tata Communications and attended by representatives of the partners as well as Tyco Telecommunications.

The TGN Gulf cable build announcement partnering with this prominent group of operators, supported by the investment commitment underscores Tata Communications strategic intent to participate and assist in the rapid development of the region, said a top official.

'This new state-of-the-art cable system, on which work began during October 2009 and which will be completed during 2011, will connect the region to the rest of the world via the TGN providing reliable high speed bandwidth to all the key cities of the world,' said Vinod Kumar, president and COO of Tata Communication.

The TGN Gulf Cable System, acting as a gateway to the TGN network, will provide a new dimension to the infrastructure and unique service capabilities of each of the partners.

Using its own cable station, each party will have access to a new high-speed route to the globe and at the same time add much needed resilience and diversity to the infrastructure in each country, Kumar explained.

The capacity will also help to support the continued expansion in broadband penetration, Internet usage and enterprise applications in each market, he added.

'We firmly believe in the growth potential and increasing dynamism in the Middle East region. This conviction translates tangibly into investments that will increase our infrastructure and services coverage throughout the region.'

'Most importantly, this is steered by the strong foundational partnerships that we have formed with leading ME operators,' Kumar observed.

'We see the Middle East as a crucial building block in our Emerging Markets strategy and in delivering the 'new world of communications' to our global enterprise customers. Along with our partners, we are confident of creating sustained mutual benefits while serving global and Middle Eastern companies with a unique service portfolio.'

Tata Communications and its partners intend to build on this cable project as part of strategic relationships that will support the development of an extended portfolio of advanced telecommunications services such as Global Ethernet, MPLS based VPN, Managed Security, IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and Global Telepresence.

All these services are ideally suited to support both local and global enterprises, which are very active in this rapidly expanding emerging market region.

Radwan Moussalli, Tata Communications' managing director for Mena, said: 'We are proud to bring a much needed resilient cable system to the Middle East region in association with Bahrain Internet Exchange, Nawras, Qatar Telecom, Mobily and Etisalat.'

'We are extremely happy to be partnering with all of them in the interest of further developing this region. Tata Communications commits to not only this investment, but also to bring expertise, resources and a world class team in support of all our partners as we introduce the state of the art global telecom services to the region,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service