ICE IV Project to connect India, Middle East with new MOU
e&, Telecom Egypt, Telin and a major Indian operator signed the MOU
Abu Dhabi: In a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), telecom operators e&, Telecom Egypt, Telin and a major Indian operator have joined hands to form a consortium with the aim to develop the ICE IV Project, a press release said on Wednesday.
This new Data Center (DC) to DC system is set to seamlessly connect the Intra Asia region to India and the Middle East demonstrating regional collaboration between the operators.
Spanning approximately 11,000km, this new system plans to deploy the latest open cable technologies and subsea ROADMs to interconnect Indonesia and Singapore to India, Oman, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.
Landing in Kochi
The ICE IV Project will adopt an entirely new route through the Sunda Strait, Indonesia and become the first international cable to land in Kochi, India in decades, offering an alternate resilient route and new international gateway. Terrestrial extensions are being considered also include links between the Middle East and Egypt and between Kochi and Chennai, together making this ICE IV Project unique. The target ready for service date is Q4, 2027, the release added.
Built to meet the needs of content providers and large data consumers, the ICE IV Project is set to provide seamless connectivity, extraordinary bandwidth, and network security through diversity.
This MOU was signed during the Capacity Middle East event by top officials from the four market-leaders in the industry; Nabil Baccouche - Group Chief Carrier & Wholesale Officer at e&, Seif Mounib Vice President of International and Wholesale at Telecom Egypt, Budi Satria Dharma Purba, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Telin, and the Indian operator.
Nabil Baccouche, Group Chief Carrier and Wholesale Officer at e&, said, “With ICE IV Project, we're redefining the connectivity map, bringing continents closer than ever before, and unlocking bandwidth access for billions of people. With our commitment to making SmartHub a location of choice as one of the largest neutral carrier hub, the ICE IV Project will further accelerate connectivity.
“The new DC to DC system will enable us to increase capabilities and global capacity further to meet the evolving requirements of customers across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Americas.”