Network i2i's undersea cable operation by March

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, NOV. 2. The first phase of India's first private undersea cable venture - linking Singapore and Chennai and other Indian cities - will be operational by March 2002, according to Ms. Yoong Sim Hong Siang, Chief Executive Officer, Network i2i and Bharti Aquanet.

She told presspersons here today that the contract for Singapore- Chennai cable had been awarded and that the i2i Gateways' sites in India had been finalised. In the first phase, the link would be between Chennai-Bangalore-Mumbai (2,000 km); Chennai-Hyderabad-Mumbai (2,500 km); and Mumbai-Delhi (1,500 km).

She said that 8.4 terabit network will supersede the older cable networks that were in the country and satisfy the bandwidth- hungry Indian market and address the needs of regional telecommunication companies. The bandwidth capacity would be sold to carriers, Internet Service Providers and other Indian operators with the opening up of domestic long distance (DLD) and International long distance (ILD) telecom sectors.

The i2i Gateway sites in India had been finalised and they were in Santhome Telecom Tower, Chennai; Mind Space, Mumbai; Okhla Industrial Estate, Delhi; YMCA building, Bangalore; MCH Complex, Hyderabad; Kid Street, Kolkata; and Malviya Nagar (Bhopal). The Gateways, she said, would allow customers to set up POPs (point of presence) in these cities connected via Bharti's domestic links, being constructed by Bharti Telesonic.

About 11,000 route km OFC (optic fibre cable) had been laid in the country covering about 75 cities, including the major metros and by March 2002, 151 cities would be covered.

The first phase of the project cost $250 million and the second phase - Singapore-Mumbai - would cost another $400 million.

Mr. Viresh Dayal, Director of Projects, Bharti Enterprises, said Network i2i had sold substantial bandwidth capacity to customers. The company would have break-even in three to five years.

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