[NYTr] Venez-Cuba Fiberoptic Cable Due in 2009

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Telegeography - Oct 1, 2007
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=19878&email=html


Venezuela-Cuba cable set for 2009

State-owned telco Telecom Venezuela (formerly CVG Telecom) and Cuban
telco Transbit have revealed a plan to create a joint venture before
the end of the year to build an undersea fibre-optic cable connecting
the two countries, reports BNamericas, which quotes Telecom Venezuela
president Julio Duran as saying that the network could be ready in 18
months from the creation of the venture - around mid-2009. 

The planned cable would run an estimated 1,552km from La Guaira, Vargas
state, in northern Venezuela to Siboney in the eastern province of
Santiago de Cuba, and support 20 million simultaneous voice calls. 

Both companies are reportedly talking with a number of Chinese companies
about building the submarine system. CVG and Transbit first signed an
agreement to install the cable in January 2007, and in June announced
future plans to interconnect with other countries in the Caribbean.

According to TeleGeography's GlobalComms database, CVG Telecom was
formed in 2004 as a government-controlled alternative to incumbent
fixed line operator CANTV.