Bezeq and Alcatel-Lucent turn up JONAH submarine cable

Bezeq International and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) are celebrating the commercial launch of a new high-speed subsea cable link between Israel and Italy. Spanning 2,300 km across the Mediterranean, the cable system "JONAH" is the first high-speed submarine cable network fully owned by an Israeli operator, the companies claim.

The new submarine link is intended to address the growing demands of the Israeli telecom market, which shows one of the highest household broadband and mobile penetration rates in the world. Based on Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine communications networking technology, the cable system can operate at 100-Gbps transmission rates to enable total data capacity of 7.6 Tbps between Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bari, Italy.

Isaac Benbenisti, CEO of Bezeq International, said, "This new advanced high-speed submarine cable system 'JONAH', demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the development of our communication infrastructure and sets new standards of performance and service for our Israeli as well as global customers. Alcatel-Lucent’s advanced technology offers us access to huge bandwidth at more affordable rates, while enhancing our ability to deliver a vast array of new applications and services."

The system integrates Alcatel-Lucent OALC-5 cable, optimized with coherent submarine fiber, repeaters, and the 1620 Light Manager submarine line terminal, which is designed to accommodate 10G/40G/100G wavelengths in the same platform.

Alcatel-Lucent says the new hardware, which features optical coherent technology, offers a guaranteed pathway to multi-terabit capacity using 100G channels. This protects investment in new wet plant from the risk of obsolescence or capacity limitations due to changes of transmission technology in the transition from 40G to 100G.

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.