RCL launches high cap sub-sea telecom cable

Reliance Communications (RCL) today launched commercial operations of its 2.56 TB undersea cable connecting the Middle East region with India in an effort to provide bandwidth to end-users like IT, BPO and international voice telephony companies.

The 2.56 terabit capacity Falcon submarine cable system connects 11 countries and four continents as its stretches 11,859 km from Mumbai to Egypt. It covers Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where Falcon is expected to bring down the bandwidth costs.

IT & telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, who inaugurated the cable system, said: "Falcon heralds a new era in the telecom landscape of the country by providing a cost-effective source of international bandwidth.

"The initiatives of Reliance and others will provide healthy competition and robust growth. The carriers will further bring down their tariff in line with the prevailing market prices...The benefits would soon be experienced by Indian enterprises and consumers," Maran said.