Alcatel-Lucent, Reliance Sign US$350 Mln Undersea Cable Network Deal
December 14, 2007
French Alcatel-Lucent has landed a US$350 million deal from FLAG Telecom - a subsidiary of India's Reliance Communications - for the construction of an undersea fiber-optic cable network under the Pacific Ocean, connecting Japan and the West coast of the United States, The Economic Times of India reported.
According to the same report, the new project is expected to extend the currently 65,000km long FLAG (Fiber-optic Link Around the Globe) network by an additional 11,000km. This project is also Alcatel-Lucent's second contract with Reliance, as the Indian company previously awarded a US$400 million contract to Alcatel-Lucent for the construction of the FALCON undersea cable network, which has been provided connectivity since September 2006.
By 2010 at the latest, the length of FLAG network is expected to reach 115,000km, according to the same report. Overall, FLAG Telecom's cable networks, including FEA (Flag Europe Asia), FLAG Atlantic, FNAL (FLAG North Asia Loop), and FALCON, as well as the ones built by Alcatel-Lucent, are expected to connect 60 countries worldwide.