FLAG Telecom (FT) announced that Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC) is acquiring additional DS3 level broad-band capacity between Aqaba and New York, enabling the Kingdom's telecommunication company to satiate the expected jump in Internet demand in
Jordan.
FLAG Telecom is creating a global network infrastructure and hopes to achieve a network of over 100,000 kilometers by 2003, the Individual reported. The company provides a wide range of carrier services and network services to the international carrier community, including ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and ASPs (Application Service Providers).
Pierre Mattei, CEO of JTC commented: "Jordan is experiencing an increasing demand for broadband access to the rest of the world from our ISPs. As part of our strategy to meet this demand we partnered with FLAG Telecom to bring their global network to land at Aqaba and provide fast, clear communications. Today, we are announcing the acquisition of capacity direct from Jordan to the heart of New York dedicated to Internet traffic. With
easy access direct to the hub of the world's Internet traffic we are aiming to reduce the price of Internet access for all our domestic customers, which in turn will further expand e-commerce and other Internet applications in Jordan."
Walid Irshaid, FLAG Telecom's Vice President for the Middle East and Africa, relayed: "Under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah III, Jordan became the 16th landing on the FLAG Europe Asia cable route in July last year. Since the opening of the landing station at Aqaba, the region has seen an ever increasing need for high-capacity, error-free transmission as data takes over from voice as the most usual means of communication."
FLAG Telecom is currently a world leader in the telecommunications industry. By 2002, the FLAG network is expected to stretch over 65,000 kilometers from new York across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Mediterranean to the Middle East and Asia. The FLAG Europe-Asia cable system, with 16 operational landing points in 13 countries, is the longest private cable system ever assembled, and provides high-capacity digital services to over 90 international carriers and ISPs. The route spans many of the world's fastest growing economies and offers direct connectivity to over 75 percent of the world's population.
At the end of 1999, the number of lines provided by the Jordan Telecommunications Company in the Kingdom hit 564,634, with 58 percent of these located in Amman. The company's telephony service boasts a capacity of 1 million lines.
- albawaba.com
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
