– 25 year tri-nation cable-landing agreement between LIME (Cable & Wireless Communications Caribbean operation) and TGC (owned by Telecom Venezuela and Transbit SA of Cuba)
– Cable & Wireless Communications to provide TGC capacity to Europe
– Major upgrade to Cuba’s Internet and data transmission capability
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) announces that LIME, its operation in the Caribbean, has signed a multi-million dollar contract with Telecommunicaciones Gran Caribe (TGC), a joint venture between Cuba (Transbit SA) and Venezuela (Telecom Venezuela).
LIME will be the strategic landing partner in Jamaica for TGC’s planned 149 miles undersea cable segment from Cuba to Jamaica. As part of the agreement, Cable & Wireless Communications will also carry voice and data traffic from Cuba to Europe.
The TGC cable will run from Puerto de la Guaira in Venezuela to Santiago in Cuba, then to LIME’s landing station in Ocho Rios, Jamaica – an entire length of more than 932 miles. It is the first international telecoms cable connection to Cuba for several decades, and will facilitate a significant increase in access to telecoms and internet services for Cuba. Today Cuba relies on satellite capacity for all of its international connectivity. The ultra high bandwidth infrastructure is projected to provide Cuba with data download speeds up to 3000 times faster than satellite, and is expected to lower the cost of international phone calls.
The cable, which lands in Ocho Rios, Jamaica today, will provide direct connectivity between the countries for voice and data traffic, with greatly increased capacity.
CWC will also provide TGC with interconnect services and private leased circuit capacity between Jamaica and London.
Tony Rice, CEO of Cable & Wireless Communications said:
“Our footprint in the Caribbean is unique and I am delighted this has given us the opportunity to partner with TGC and play a role in developing telecommunications in Cuba.”
David Shaw, CEO of LIME said:
“LIME is delighted to have been chosen by TGC to be its partner in this very important venture. We are a genuine regional company and an important part of our mandate is to ensure that the entire region is served by the most modern telecoms technology available and our enterprise and carrier customers have access to world-class capability.”
Wilfredo Morales, President and Waldo Reboredo, Vice President of TGC said:
“We are delighted to be collaborating with LIME on this venture which is a breakthrough of enormous importance to the people of Cuba, Jamaica, Venezuela and several other countries in Latin America. It will bring significant improvement in the quality of communications, with a substantial increase in data transmission speed. It will also facilitate and improve long distance medical consultation and cultural and educational exchanges – that is, it will have an economic and social impact on these countries.”
LIME also recently completed the installation of its new East-West Cable connection, linking Jamaica, Dominican Republican and the British Virgin Islands. The East West Cable completes LIME’s Caribbean “network ring” and will substantially increase the region’s available bandwidth.
About Cable & Wireless Communications Cable & Wireless Communications is a global, full-service communications business. We operate leading telecommunications businesses through four regional units – the Caribbean, Panama, Macau and Monaco & Islands. Our services include mobile, broadband and domestic and international fixed line services in most of our markets as well as pay-TV, data centre and hosting, carrier and managed service solutions. Our operations are focused on providing our customers – consumers, businesses, governments – with world-class service. We are the market leader in most products we offer and territories we serve. For more information visit www.cwc.com.
About LIME LIME is the Caribbean’s leading telecommunications company, focused on building products and services that make Caribbean people’s lives better. LIME’s aim is to deliver the best communication services across the board, full stop. LIME is part of Cable & Wireless Communications, one of the world’s leading international communications companies. For more information visit www.time4lime.com.
