26 September 2003 Milan Lightwave -- Emirates Telecommunications & Marine Services FZE (e-marine) in the United Arab Emirates has awarded Pirelli the contract for supplying submarine and land fiber-optic cables, terminal transmission equipment, and accessories for a prestigious project which will link Kuwait City with Ganeveh in the Iran. The new cable system will enable the transmission of voice, data, and multimedia broadband services.
The project is expected to strongly support economic development in the region through the diffusion of connectivity and telecommunication services.
The contract includes the manufacturing and laying of a 350 km fiber-optic submarine system--plus a 50-km terrestrial system--with an ultimate transmission capacity of 10-Gbits/sec on four channels, equivalent to more than 160,000 simultaneous phone calls.
"This link will prove to be an important milestone and pave the way for tremendous growth of telecommunication in the region," contends Mauro Sacchetto, managing director of Pirelli Submarine Telecom Systems. "Pirelli won a tough contest, prevailing over many major technology suppliers worldwide," he adds.
Ministry of Communications of Kuwait and Telecommunication Company of Iran are the work owners. Pirelli will incorporate the most advanced Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing submarine optical transmission technology. The initially equipped capacity of the unrepeatered link--which will use Pirelli cables with G654 fibers--will be 2.5 Gbits/sec, upgradable in accordance with future traffic requirements.
The link will be completed by the second quarter 2004 and also includes three branches to Failakah (Kuwait) and Kharg (Iran) islands and to an Iranian offshore oil platform. Pirelli will supply three branching units, sophisticated optical equipment that allow for data transmission on these kinds of systems.
Pirelli will manufacture the optical cable at its Italian facility in Arco Felice (Neaples), while equipment will be manufactured in Paderno Dugnano (Milan).