The UAE has joined 16 countries across three continents to complete the complex 20,000 km subsea cable infrastructure on schedule

Dubai, UAE, December 27, 2016:  The SEA-ME-WE 5 Consortium recently announced the completion of the 20,000-kilometer subsea cable infrastructure developed by a 16-nation consortium on schedule. UAE telecom provider, du, is a stakeholder in the project which is in-line with the UAE National Vision 2021 and the National Agenda of sustainable environment and infrastructure. The UAE is an emerging business hub in the region and investments from du were instrumental in bringing SEA-ME-WE 5 to the UAE. 

This submarine cable system won the Project of the Year – Subsea award at the Global Carrier Awards in Paris in November 2016 for its technological and managerial excellence. 

“As a leading smart city enabler, du takes into serious consideration any opportunity to improve the ICT infrastructure in the UAE, not only to benefit its intrinsic business requirements, but also to benefit the UAE as a whole. Our investment in the SEA-ME-WE 5 consortium is a reflection of our commitment to maintain and strengthen our position as a trusted partner for our customers who demand the highest quality solutions when it comes to their ICT needs,” said Farid Faraidooni, Chief Operations Officer. 

The growth of mobile data and internet usage in the UAE is driving the demand for higher-capacity infrastructure. du chose to be a stakeholder in the project to help support its capacity demand in the domestic and regional markets. This is a consortium of some of the largest telecom operators in the world, allowing UAE enterprise customers access into those markets. du’s investment in SEA-ME-WE 5 will enhance the resilience of its network and ultimately support both customer and community satisfaction.

The SME-ME-WE 5 subsea cable system, spanning 16 countries from Southeast Asia through the Middle East to Western Europe, is a technological breakthrough which marks a global communications milestone. It is designed with a capacity of 24 Terabits per second on 3-fiber pairs, fully capable of accommodating the future demand of data from other bandwidth-intensive applications such as enterprise data exchange, internet TV, and online gaming.

“This is a strong consortium with many high-profile operators participating alongside du. Due to the optimal routing of the cable, it has lower latency, making it an even more pertinent piece of infrastructure for the UAE and the world,” Faraidooni added. 

The SEA-ME-WE 5 submarine cable’s advanced 100Gbps technology is expected to meet the quadrupling of bandwidth demand between Europe and Asia. In contrast with other submarine cable systems, the SEA- ME-WE 5’s main endpoints are carrier-neutral/open Points-of-Presence (PoPs) and not just Cable Landing Stations (CLS). 

“The completion of the SE-ME-WE 5 project is a landmark system upgrade for all data users worldwide. This system facilitates a new age of digital transformation and innovation, catalysing greater economic activities, trade and growth across three continents.” noted Ms. Linette Lee, Chairperson, SEA-ME-WE 5 Consortium Management Committee. “I would like to thank all the members of the consortium for their unstinting support and commitment toward this project. Together, we collaborated across different time zones and overcame numerous challenges to achieve the complex integration of technologies as promised and on time.” 

The subsea cable system, which was implemented with over $500 million from consortium members, was designed to enable the latest upgradable 100Gbps technology, further enhancing the diversity and resilience of the heavily-utilised route between Asia and Europe.

Members of the SEA-ME-WE 5 Consortium: Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), China Mobile International (CMI), China Telecom Global (CTG), China United Network Communications Group Company Limited (CU), Djibouti Telecom (DT), Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), Myanmar Post and Telecom (MPT), Ooredoo, Orange, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel), Sparkle, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), Telecom Egypt (TE), Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), TeleYemen, Turk Telekom International (TTI) and Trans World Associates (Pvt) Limited Pakistan (TWA).