FALCON launch held in cable hub city of Muscat

FALCON, a new high-capacity resilient loop cable system will provide multiple landings throughout the Gulf region, with submarine links stretching from the Middle East to Egypt in the west and, initially, to India in the east. Across India the FALCON system can interconnect seamlessly with India's domestic networks, including Reliance's 80,000 km high-speed domestic infrastructure, allowing customers to access major cities and towns.

Commenting at yesterday's celebration, Patrick Gallagher, CEO, FLAG Telecom, said: 'FALCON remains on course to be the premier terabit/s submarine cable system throughout the Gulf and the wider Middle East region. It will also become the first privately owned terabit/s cable to land on India's west coast, dramatically increasing the amount of cost-effective capacity available to the ITEs and global operators wishing to access one of the world's most dynamic economies. We are delighted to be joined here by our partner Omantel, with whom we have created a strong bond, and other leading operators from around the region. There has been strong interest in FALCON and we are particularly pleased to be joined today by so many of our FALCON landing parties, represented by senior Ministers and Executives from Omantel, Telecom Egypt, Batelco, MOC Kuwait and Reliance.

'We are also joined today by the CEO of Alcatel Submarine Networks, already a key supplier to FLAG, and globally-recognised as the partner of choice when designing and building complex submarine cable systems such as FALCON.'

The FALCON network is being built and installed in simultaneous sections using several submarine cable laying ships and initial service will commence by the fourth quarter of 2005. Muscat and Mumbai will be the locations anticipated to be live by that date, with services to other landing countries following in very quick succession. FALCON will incorporate comprehensive protection mechanisms to ensure the highest level of network reliability.

Alcatel will supply its next-generation DWDM submarine line terminal that incorporates the most recent developments in optical transmission enabling operators to maximise their network efficiency. Alcatel's Optical Multi-Service Node and 1678 Metro Core Connect terrestrial systems will be installed to connect the landing stations. All terrestrial and submarine equipment will be managed by an integrated network management system provided by Alcatel.

FALCON underlines the growing optimism in today's telecommunications marketplace and provides the backbone to deliver advanced broadband services throughout the Middle East, Egypt and India, which have been traditionally underserved with high-capacity broadband connectivity. To meet the forecast increased demand for broadband services as liberalisation continues in countries along the route, branching units have been added along the entire FALCON cable route to allow additional countries to connect to the system as their communications needs continue to expand.

FLAG's cable network already spans the globe and the company has an acknowledged reputation for a centralised end to end network management underpinned by exceptional quality and service support.