e&, Telecom Egypt, Telin Partner to Drive ICE IV Project

e&, Telecom Egypt, Telin and a major Indian operator have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a consortium with the aim to develop the ICE IV Project. This new Data Center (DC) to DC system shall seamlessly connect the Intra Asia region to India and the Middle East on a unique route that demonstrates the true spirit of collaboration between these regions.

Spanning approximately 11,000km, this new system plans to deploy the latest open cable technologies and subsea ROADMs to interconnect Indonesia and Singapore to India, Oman, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. The ICE IV Project will adopt an entirely new route through the Sunda Strait and become the first international cable to land in Kochi, India in decades; offering an alternate resilient route and new international gateway. Terrestrial extensions are being considered also include links between the Middle East and Egypt and between Kochi and Chennai, together making this ICE IV Project unique. The target ready for service date is Q4, 2027.

In recent years, the surge in demand, coupled with inventory scarcity has moved the global bandwidth market to thrive and become the main driver for the construction of new subsea cable systems. As subsea connectivity evolves, the PoP to PoP design sets the new standard, where this architecture serves the requirements of content providers and large data consumers much better. The ICE IV Project shall adopt these principles providing seamless connectivity, extraordinary bandwidth, and network security through diversity.

This very significant milestone for the project took place during the prestigious Capacity Middle East event where the MOU was signed by top officials from the four market leading companies; Nabil Baccouche - Group Chief Carrier & Wholesale Officer at e&, Seif Mounib Vice President of International and Wholesale at Telecom Egypt, Budi Satria Dharma Purba, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Telin, and the Indian operator. The signing event demonstrates all parties’ commitment to invest and grow the global bandwidth market to better serve their customers.

Nabil Baccouche, Group Chief Carrier and Wholesale Officer at e&, said: “With ICE IV Project, we're redefining the connectivity map, bringing continents closer than ever before, and unlocking bandwidth access for billions of people. With our commitment to making SmartHub a location of choice as one of the largest neutral carrier hub, the ICE IV Project will further accelerate connectivity. The new DC to DC system will enable us to increase capabilities and global capacity further to meet the evolving requirements of customers across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Americas.”.”

Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Telecom Egypt, commented: “Since the start of subsea fiber optic evolutions more than 30 years ago, Telecom Egypt has been instrumental in enabling and supporting the formation of subsea projects, particularly those connecting Southeast Asia to Europe. This particular route is considered the core infrastructure connecting the largest continents, and one of the major and continuously expanding subsea routes. Telecom Egypt is honored to collaborate with ICE partners on the construction of this remarkable project. Being a founding member of ‘ICE IV’ is a testament of our profound belief of the importance of this critical infrastructure. We are providing open-access to more than 20 subsea cables landing in Egypt with unique, diverse landing and state-of-the-art transit international infrastructure that will be part of the planned design. Furthermore, ICE IV Project will enable us to extend our footprint and further diversify our subsea infrastructure portfolio to promptly address the ever-growing demand for global connectivity.”

Budi Satria Dharma Purba, CEO at Telin, stated: “Customer nowadays demand the utmost best user experience, pushing providers to innovate and build low latency network on diverse and unique routes. This compels Telin to envision Indonesia as the future hub in this Indo-Pacific region. We can create new opportunities for all ICE cable systems by integrating it with relevant countries and systems. Indonesian Cable Express will be the bridge. The Telin ICE initiative ensures an efficient cost structure and faster deployment. The ICE program involves 7 separate cable systems connecting Indonesia to all potential markets. During the next 5 years, the system deployment will start, each adhering to 4 fundamental principles: DC to DC Access, Ultra Low Latency, Different Landings and Unique Routes.”