Caucasus Cable System
| Caucasus Cable System | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Owners: Caucasus Online, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development | |
| Total length | 1,200km |
| Topology | 2 × 2 fibers |
| Design capacity | 1.92Tb/s |
| Currently lit capacity | 19.2Tb/s |
| Technology | repeatered DWDM |
| Date of first use | 21 November 2008 |
The Caucasus Cable System (CCS) is an operational submarine communications cable in the Black Sea linking Balchik, Bulgaria with Poti, Georgia over a distance of approximately 1,200 km and launched on November 21, 2008. It is designed to connect the Caucasus region to Western Europe through onwards terrestrial connectivity from the cable landing station in Balchik to Frankfurt, Germany.[1]
Laying works were completed in July 2008 by the American cable ship CS Tyco Decisive, just a couple of weeks prior to the South Ossetia War.[2] The submarine cable was manufactured and laid by TE Connectivity and compromises two fiber pairs each carrying 96 wavelengths with a bandwidth of 100Gbit/s providing a total bandwidth of 19.2Tbit/s (originally 64 × 10Gbit/s and a total of 1.2Tbit/s).[1] In 2011 an upgrade implemented by TE Connectivity enabled the addition of further wavelengths.[3]
The project was led by Georgia's largest Internet service provider, Caucasus Online. Costs of construction of the submarine cable amounted to $40 million of which $35 million were funded by loans acquired from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). As part of the deal, the EBRD acquired a 5.0% equity stake in the company.[1]
The project involved further investments for terrestrial fibre optic infrastructure from and to the landing stations worth $22 million. On the Bulgarian side a fibre optic link to Varna was built while on the Georgian end a fibre optic link to Georgian neighbour Azerbaijan was laid.[1]
Completion of the project was delayed by around one month due to the 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Iva Doneva (20 November 2008). "Georgia's Caucasus Online Invests $40 Mln in Fibre Optic Link to W. Europe via Bulgaria". article. SeeNews. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- ↑ http://www.tycotelecom.com/company/view.asp?id=298&type=Press
- ↑ Courtney McDaniel (19 April 2011). "Caucasus Online and Subcom to upgrade Caucasus undersea fiber optic cable system". press release. TE Connectivity. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
