January 17, 2006 Tokyo, Japan -- NEC says it has signed a contract with purchasers, comprised of 17 of the world's leading operators, for the upgrade of the Maya-1 submarine cable system. According to a press release, the "Maya-1 Upgrade #2" upgrade project call for expanding the capacity of the submarine network, located in the Caribbean region, from the current 5 x 2.5-Gbit/sec system to a potential 8 x 10-Gbit/sec system.
"We are very excited about the step change in Maya-1 to meet the rapid growth of bandwidth requirements in the Caribbean region," comments Edward West, upgrade project manager for NEC.
Originally constructed in 2000, the Maya-1 network connects seven strategic landing points in the Caribbean, including: Hollywood, California; Cancun, Mexico; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; Half Moon Bay, Cayman Islands; Maria Chiquita, Panama; and Tolu, Colombia.
"This is another marvelous opportunity for NEC to prove how strong its competence in submarine systems is," concludes Osamu Harada, general manager for submarine networks at NEC. "One of our greatest strengths is the ability to successfully upgrade existing submarine cable systems, even those that have been installed by other suppliers initially. Utilizing NEC's proprietary technology, incorporating a small footprint design, we are able to upgrade virtually any existing undersea system."