Jamaica welcomes new fibre optic initiative linking Cuba and Venezuela

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The Jamaica government has welcomed the high-speed fibre optic submarine cable linking Cuba and Venezuela, saying it provides an opportunity for the country to participate in international telecommunications’ projects.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the increase in bandwidth will have several benefits to Jamaica, including “our telecommunication infrastructure, through the creation of another facility for the movement of telecommunication traffic out of Jamaica; the opening up and expansion of business opportunities in the area of knowledge and business outsourcing services; improvement in the business-to-business relationship among Cuba, Venezuela and Jamaica.

The 1840km cable is owned by Venezuelan telecommunications company Telecommuniciones Gran Caribe (TGC), a Cuban/Venezuelan joint venture established to invest in and operate the international telecommunications system ALBA. The project will allow Cuba to benefit from cheaper, faster access to the Internet and other telecommunications technologies.

Venezuelan Minister with responsibility for Science, Technology and Intermediate Industries, Ricardo Menendez, said the arrival of the cable represented a mutual and non-exploitative relationship for all partners.

“The ships arriving to our borders, our frontiers, our shores, bring our energy; the ships that arrive bring along telecommunications. When it is among us, it is the benefit that is multiplied; it is not relations of exploitation among us, it is maximising the benefit of our countries,” he added.

TGC Vice President Waldo Reboredoarroyo said that the project, which took just over one year to be executed, has benefited from “goodwill, understanding and cooperation of many parties involved.”

He said that the cables, with additional equipment, may deliver speeds of up to 642 gigabytes per second. There is an underwater provision to expand the service to the Dominican Republic and also to Haiti. (Excerpt from CMC)

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