Sea-Me-We 4 submarine cable network inaugurated in Dubai

After extensive provisional acceptance tests, Sea-Me-We 4, for which Alcatel had the turnkey responsibility with its co-contractor Fujitsu, is now ready to carry live traffic and to meet the fast growing needs from South East Asia, Indian subcontinent, Middle-Eastern countries and Europe.

Completed in 18 months, the Sea-Me-We 4 submarine cable network nearly spans 20,000 km - approximately half of the circumference of the globe - linking 14 countries from Singapore to France and relying on 16 landing points. This system is designed to last 25 years with full reliability, and with 32 times the initial capacity of the previous Sea-Me-We 3 system, which was installed in 1998.

Sea-Me-We 4 is operated by 16 carriers and deploys Alcatel's submarine and terrestrial optical networking solutions based on the most advanced technologies delivered to the market. Alcatel had the turnkey responsibility of this state-of-the-art network from design to laying for the segments 2, 3, 4 linking Mumbai to Marseilles, as well as the overall responsibility for the SDH end-to-end realization

"We are proud to have contributed to the Sea-Me-We 4 project, which dramatically increases the communciations capabilities in the Indian and Middle-East region" said Jean Godeluck, president of Alcatel's submarine network activity.

"This achievement further demonstrates Alcatel's ability to support its customers demand in their tight deployment plans with advanced technological expertise, backed by a turnkey approach to complex submarine projects."

Alcatel has played a key role in the development and implementation of the most important submarine cable networks in operation today. Leveraging over 150 years of expertise in the submarine business, Alcatel has laid over 450,000 km of submarine cables, connecting every continent from Europe to Asia, spanning the length of the Americas and across the Pacific.