By Callum Paton.
Tripoli, 28 January 2014:
France-based telecommunications company Alcatel Lucent has been awarded a $58 million contract to install a high-speed underwater broadband . . .[restrict]cable between Benghazi and Tripoli.
The undersea cable will run from Tripoli to Benghazi with two additional onshore ‘terminals’ in Ajdabiya and Misrata, promising a broadband capacity of up to ten terabytes. It should provide necessary foundations for the introduction of mobile broadband and high-speed internet access. The joint project between Alcatel Lucent and the Libyan International Telecom Company should be completed in the next 16 months.
Deputy Minister for Communication Mohamed Benrasali told the Libya Herald that the new cable would address the “data tsunami” expected to follow the implementation of internet broadband. “This is a very important project for the Libyan ICT sector, which will provide the backbone for a national network,” he said. “It will also link the two international information gateways in the east and in the west.”
Benrasali said the Ministry of Communications was very happy to be working with Alcatel Lucent, describing it as “one of the leading companies in submarine cable technology.” The French company has previously worked in Libya installing a similar underwater line between Khoms and Misrata.
He added that finalising the deal had taken a year, during which Alcatel Lucent had seen off competition from Chinese, Japanese and American companies.
This is the latest step being taken by the Ministry of Communications to modernise the country’s infrastructure and provide better internet and telecoms services. New contracts for upgrading the country’s mobile networks for on-the-go internet are also expected to be announced soon. [/restrict]
