Batelco has signed a key agreement with Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the Middle East's first privately-owned submarine cable operator, to significantly enhance the telecom giant's ability to provide world-class services in the kingdom.

The two companies will provide a landing station for a new sub-sea cable being installed by GBI, said a top Batelco official.

The GBI Cable System, which will utilises the latest subsea fibre cable technology, will connect all the countries of the Gulf region to each other and provide onward connectivity to Europe and Asia.

The launch of the GBI Cable System will see telecom operators and other communications companies, both in the region and globally, benefit from greater choice, value, diversity and resilience.

Batelco chief executive Bahrain Gert Rieder said he was thrilled to sign the GBI pact. 'This will significantly enhance Batelco's resilience and diversity in providing world-class connectivity for residents of Bahrain with world-wide destinations,' he remarked.

GBI executive vice-chairman Hamad Al Mannai expressed his great pleasure in announcing the landing of the GBI cable system in the kingdom.

'The kingdom has been one of the most liberalised telecom markets in the region and we are glad to conclude this agreement with Batelco and for us to be a partner in the advancement of the overall ICT sector in Bahrain.'

GBI chief executive Ahmed Mekky, who signed the agreement on behalf of GBI, said that the agreement will not only benefit the kingdom but all the countries in the region.

'We believe that increased choice, capacity and competition for international bandwidth are essential for sustained growth in the region.

'The agreement with Batelco brings GBI one step closer to delivering all three. I am confident that GBI will change the telecoms landscape in the Middle East and play a positive role in facilitating future economic growth.'

Batelco has previously invested in three international cable systems - Flag, Sea-ME-WE 3 and Sea-ME-WE 4 - and a satellite earth station to provide international voice, data and Internet services to its customers across the kingdom.

Batelco has also invested in three diverse paths (SFO, Falcon and FOG) to access such international connectivity. Such network resilience and diversity is considered 'best practice' in the telecommunications industry globally and has served Bahrain well in the past minimising disruption to telecommunications services over the years.

"Such investment forms part of Batelco's $1.4 billion outlay towards building the kingdom's communications infrastructure," he noted.

The company's ongoing strategy is to continue investing in new infrastructure and innovative technology for Bahrain and ensure the kingdom remains the most desirable IT and communications hub across the region,' said Rieder.

Scheduled for a launch next year and designed to operate for up to 25 years, the GBI Cable System will connect all the Gulf countries via a core ring, which can re-route traffic thereby increasing resilience.

With a design capacity of up to five terabits per second on certain cable sections, the GBI Cable System will have the capability to meet the rapid growth in demand that has been forecast for traffic originating and terminating in Gulf.-TradeArabia News Service