World's longest submarine cable system inaugurated<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indosat, the state-owned telecommunications
\ncompany, and its 51 partners from 46 countries, officially
\ninaugurated the world's longest optical submarine communication
\nsystem yesterday.<\/p>\n
The inauguration of the submarine cable system, linking
\nSoutheast Asia, the Middle East and western Europe, was carried
\nout simultaneously between Jakarta, Singapore, Bombay and Paris,
\n-- four of the systems 14 landing points -- through a
\nvideoconference broadcast.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia the new cable facility was inaugurated by
\nDirector General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria
\nPurawidjaja, in Singapore by chairman of Singapore Telecom Koh
\nBoon Hwee, in India by senior telecommunication official B. K.
\nSyngal and in France by Charles Rozmaryn, chief executive officer
\nof France Telecom.<\/p>\n
Safwan Natanegara, the director for the development of
\nIndosat, said that the construction of the cable system, which
\ncost US$700 million, was completed in June 1994, six years after
\nits start in 1988.<\/p>\n
The total cost, far lower than the $800 million originally
\nestimated, was financed by 52 founding co-signatories of the
\nConstruction and Maintenance Agreement signed on Oct. 2, 1991. In
\nexchange for their investment, each is a part owner of the
\nsystem's transmission capacity.<\/p>\n
\"It has a capacity of 15,360 circuits and can handle up to
\n60,000 conversations simultaneously,\" Safwan said.<\/p>\n
Investment<\/p>\n
He said Indosat, which floated 27.5 percent of its shares on
\nthe New York Stock Exchange yesterday and another 7.5 percent of
\nshares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange today, has invested around
\n$28 million in the new communication system, called Sea-Me-We2.<\/p>\n
The system, which started commercial service in July, 1994, is
\nthe longest fiber-optic submarine cable ever laid, stretching
\n18,000 kilometers from Marseilles in France to Singapore.<\/p>\n
The system directly links 13 countries, Singapore, Indonesia,
\nSri Lanka, India, Jibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey,
\nItaly, Tunisia, Algeria and France, putting one-third of the
\nworld's population in direct contact with each other.<\/p>\n
Safwan said the new system, the first submarine fiber-optic
\ncable laid in the Indian Ocean, is linked to the two submarine
\ncables in the Pacific Ocean, TPC-4 and TPC-5 and also to the two
\nsubmarine cable systems in the Atlantic Ocean, TAT-11 and TAT-12.
\n(hen)<\/p>",
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