Country to have third undersea fibre link next month
Mobilink to start first ever private sector undersea cable worth $60m
By Imran Ayub
KARACHI: Pakistan Mobile Communication - Mobilink - eyes its $60 million undersea fibre cable project by the end of July 2006 as a first ever private sector’s venture in the particular area, which would bring third submarine telecom into the country.
A top company official said the Trans World Associates (TWA) - a subsidiary of Mobilink’s parent company Orascom - was executing the project and it could take next few weeks to take off.
“We have not yet set the exact timeframe for this project,” Zouhair Khaliq, President and CEO Mobilink told The News when reached over telephone. “But as we hope it would be ready by July end or may be early, as it is very near to its completion and then it would be operational after testing.”
He said the undersea cable would cater the project offered distinct privileges to the company with own optic fibre backbone, the largest cellular network of over 16 million subscribers across the country.
The Mobilink’s undersea fibre cable project would add to other two such networks being operated by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. The second $500 million undersea fibre cable called SEAMEWE-4 (South East Asia, Middle East and Western Europe) landed early 2006.
Pakistan’s Internet and other telecom links with the rest of the world were severed in June 2005 by a fault in the only key submarine cable at that time, which took 11 days to repair. Millions of people were affected by the breakdown in the main fibre-optic link beneath the Arabian Sea 10 kilometres south of Karachi.
The Mobilink chief said the undersea fibre cable link and other projects were part of the company’s future investment plan in Pakistan, for which it planned to issue a Rs3 billion bond to expand and upgrade its network.
“But the two developments (fibre link and bond issue) don’t have any direct link as such,” he added. “We are issuing as our continued investment plan executed solely by Mobilink but the undersea project would provide cushion in line with network expansion and introducing value-added services.”
The Mobilink, Pakistan’s leading private cellphone service provider in terms of market share, plans to issue a Rs3 billion bond to expand and upgrade its network, an official associated with the transaction said on Monday.
Mobilink has planned to issue the seven-year bond with a green shoe option of Rs500 million. Jahangir Siddiqui Capital Markets, MCB Bank and KASB Securities are the three lead managers for the transaction. Analysts see the development showing continued growth and investment in telecom.
“The continued growth in telecom is now pushing operators to improve service quality,” said Anwaar Ahmed Khan, a telecom analyst at Capital One Equities. “Being a largest cellular operator, Mobilink needs to upgrade and expand its network with quality service maintain top-level ranking amid rising competition.” He said the company was likely to increase its subscriber base, once it got upgraded its network but improvement in quality would be the main objective to win such huge financing.
more like mobilink is trying to avoid dependance on PTA international cable link. I also think they will be launching wide band services and/or land line operations.