Haiti moves forward with Fibralink submarine cable network

While Haiti continues to recover from the earthquake that hit its country two years ago, it may become a major connectivity hub as Digicel begins construction on its new 200 km undersea cable system.

The new network is being built through a partnership with Columbus Networks, one of the major Pan Caribbean-Americas region's undersea cable operators, and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU).

One of the key effects of the earthquake was that it severely damaged or destroyed a large portion of the country's telecom network infrastructure. And since the network infrastructure has yet to be completely rebuilt, Haiti does not have sufficient connectivity for businesses and government agencies to communicate effectively.

"For more than two years now, Haiti's recovery has been hindered by the lack of reliable high-capacity broadband connections with the rest of the world. With the delivery of this critical undersea cable, the people of Haiti will see a truly dramatic improvement in the range and quality of communications services available," said Conor Clarke, Digicel Group director of international business.

Upon completion, the FibraLink Extension, which will be run and owned by Columbus networks, will provide a subsea link with 21 Pan Caribbean-Americas in addition to U.S., with the main Internet backbone located in South Florida.

March 29, 2012

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