Omantel inks Mena cable deal

Omantel signed an agreement on Friday with Egypt’s Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Company, which will see a landing station established on the sultanate’s coast as part of an 8,000 kilometre submarine fibre optic cable project.

It is expected the cable will land at Seeb, near Oman’s capital Muscat, by the third quarter of next year.

The cable will pass through Italy, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman and India, costing a total of US$400 million, but it is yet to be confirmed what share of the costs Omantel will bear.

The agreement will further strengthen Oman’s bid as a regional hub for international telecoms traffic, having already become a major landing point for global cable networks such as the Falcon, SEA-ME-WE3, TWA1 and the yet to be constructed US$700 million Europe-India Gateway.

The Mena cable is expected to land on Oman’s shores at Seeb by the third quarter of 2009 and will offer 5.7 terabits capacity for projected increases in voice, data, internet, video and e-commerce traffic.

Omantel’s CEO Mohammed bin Ali Al Wohaibi said that apart from providing its subscribers with large capacities, the cable would provide alternative channels in case of any mishaps to submarine cable lines, such as the disruptions caused earlier this year by severed cables.

The Mena Company is an affiliate of Orascom Holdings.