Fujitsu receives order for first undersea fiber optic cable system in Arabian Gulf

Business Wire, August 2, 1995

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 2, 1995--On July 28, 1995, Fujitsu Ltd., in cooperation of Itohchu, signed an $80 million contract in Bahrain with the telecommunications companies of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE for a 1,300km-long undersea fiber optic cable system connecting the four countries.

The four companies are Kuwait Ministry of Communications (Kuwait MOC), Bahrain Telephone Co. (BATELCO), Qatar Telecommunication Company (Q-TEL), and the UAE Telecommunications Company (BTISALAT).

The FOG (Fiber Optic Gulf) project, as it is being called, will be the first undersea fiber optic cable system in the Gulf area and will be linked to other fiber optic cables in the Indian Ocean. It represents a major contribution to the international communications infrastructure of the Gulf nations, which have been witnessing increased demand for communications services in recent years.

The system to be supplied by Fujitsu, which initially will operate a 5 gigabits/second (equivalent to 60,000 telephone lines between each country), will be the world's fastest. To accommodate future demand, capacity can be increased to 10 gigabits/second with the installation of additional ground equipment. The international standard-conformant cable will be procured from Pirelli of Italy.

Fujitsu was awarded the FOG contract over competing bids submitted by Alcatel and AT&T following international tenders at the beginning of this year. The contract award reflects Fujitsu's achievements in leading-edge fiber optic technology and its highly-regarded performance in the 1984 Bahrain-Qatar-UAE and 1986 UAE-Pakistan undersea cable system projects.

The turnkey FOG contract includes route survey, system, design, equipment manufacture, installation and testing, laying of undersea cable and staff training. Completion is scheduled for May 31, 1997.

CONTACT: Korendo Shiotsuki, 212/265-5360