Alcatel-Lucent starts construction of Sea-Me-We 5 undersea cable system linking Singapore and France

The South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) consortium has announced that the contract for the deployment of the SEA-ME-WE 5 undersea cable system spanning 20,000 km from Singapore to France has come into force.

The new 100G SEA-ME-WE 5 will deliver ultra-broadband capacity and faster access to consumers and businesses. Its ultimate design capacity of 24 Terabit per second (Tbit/s) will be used to serve the countries along its route.

The system wil connect Singapore to Europe (Italy and France) and traverse Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Yemen, Djibouti and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alcatel-Lucent has started construction of the segments spanning from Sri Lanka to France. Co-contractor NEC will be deploying the Singapore to Sri Lanka segment. 

Ms Linette Lee , Chairperson of the SEA-ME-WE 5 Management Committee said:  “With the rollout of the SEA-ME-WE 5 system,  we will deliver a dynamic and agile way to serve end-users and offer them the quality of service they need. Alcatel-Lucent and NEC’s 100G undersea technology will help us in setting a new milestone in the further development of this route.”

Philippe Dumont, President of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks said: “We are pleased to start working on the construction of the SEA-ME-WE 5 system to deliver a state-of–the-art infrastructure that will combine several advantages in terms of innovation, flexibility and reliability to decongest existing systems and will offer end-users an increased service experience.”

More about SEA-ME-WE 5

The  consortium is composed: Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, (BSCCL), China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, China United Network Communications Group Company, Djibouti Telecom, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (PJSC), Orange, Myanma Posts and Telecommunications, Saudi Telecom Company, SingTel, Sri Lanka Telecom, TOT, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telekom Malaysia Berhad and Yemen International Telecommunications (TeleYemen).

More about the Alcatel-Lucent solution

Alcatel-Lucent has a long-standing tradition of more than 30 years of technical cooperation with SEA-ME-WE consortia for several projects. The SEA-ME-WE 5 consortium will integrate Alcatel-Lucent’s latest innovations in subsea communications, including the Alcatel-Lucent 1620 Light Manager submarine line terminal using Advanced Coherent technology and incorporating the latest Soft Decision Forward Error Correction (SDFEC) technology, as well as its advanced ROADM branching unit offering dynamic features for enhanced system resilience. Alcatel-Lucent will also install cable and repeaters, and the cable system will be managed by Alcatel-Lucent’s end-to-end submarine network management system. As part of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will also be in charge of project management, system design, marine operations and system commissioning.

ABOUT ALCATEL-LUCENT (EURONEXT PARIS AND NYSE: ALU)

We are at the forefront of global communications, providing products and innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as ultra-broadband fixed and wireless access to service providers and their customers, and to enterprises and institutions throughout the world. Underpinning us in driving the industrial transformation from voice telephony to high-speed digital delivery of data, video and information is Bell Labs, an integral part of the Group and one of the world’s foremost technology research institutes, responsible for countless breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry. Our innovations have resulted in our Group being recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Top 100 Global Innovator, as well as being named by MIT Technology Review as amongst 2012’s Top 50 “World’s Most Innovative Companies”. We have also been recognized for innovation in sustainability, being named Industry Group Leader in the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector in the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices review, for making global communications more sustainable, affordable and accessible, all in pursuit of the Group’s mission to realize the potential of a connected world.

With revenues of Euro 14.4 billion in 2013, Alcatel-Lucent is listed on the Paris and New York stock exchanges (Euronext and NYSE: ALU). The company is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

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