India's Millennium to Build New Undersea Cable Network
October 09, 2009
Indian telecom operator Millennium Telecom - a joint venture between Indian state-owned telecom giants, MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd) and BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) - plans to construct a undersea fiber optic network, connecting India, Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, the Wall Street Journal reported on October 5. The new cable system, dubbed Millennium Cable Systems, is slated for completion by the third quarter of 2011, according to the same source. Further details regarding the total length of the cable network and total costs of the project, however, were not yet disclosed. Meanwhile, MTNL revealed that the company has been in talks over tie-ups with several telecom operators, including Singtel, Telekom Malaysia, Etisalat, and Djibouti Telecom, while continuing their efforts to develop new markets, such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Oman, and Yemen, according to the same source.