FLAG Telecom sees surging demand

September 14, 2005 London, UK -- FLAG Telecom has confirmed that orders for wavelength capacity on its trans-Atlantic optical fiber submarine cable have increased by more than 500%, quarter on quarter, in the first half of 2005. The provider says that it has this year signed major contracts for additional capacity with six international carriers and one global Internet content provider.

"Volume growth has been driven by the increased use of broadband services by businesses, and by the deployment of ever faster delivery speeds of 2 Mbit/sec and beyond to the home," comments Chris Wood, FLAG's VP of marketing. "Our success in the marketplace stems from the design and deployment of a world-class optical fiber network that has demonstrated service quality and performance benefits over other competitive systems. This, coupled with close control of costs and pricing, has enabled us to offer highly cost-effective solutions to our customers, and to cement long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships with them."

The provider owns and manages an extensive optical fiber network spanning four continents and connecting key business markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the US. It also owns and operates a low latency global MPLS based IP network, which it says connects most of the world's principal international Internet exchanges. The provider says its customer base of more than 180 leading operators includes all of the top ten international carriers.

"Over the past seven years capacity demand has increased more than 60-fold, as services have moved from voice and low-speed data to high-speed broadband," concludes Wood. "Carriers have also been looking to replace capacity on older submarine cable systems with capacity on the latest generation of optical fiber cables such as our FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1). This may not yet be the market upturn many have been forecasting - but it is an encouraging migration to quality."