Alcatel-Lucent and Cable Co. Ltd., a Bermudian telecommunications company, have announced the landing of the new Challenger submarine cable network in Bermuda. Challenger will greatly improve the robustness of Bermuda’s telecommunications infrastructure by providing system redundancy. Challenger significantly enhances Bermuda’s ability to support the growing demand for international voice, video, data, and broadband services.

Challenger will span 1,445 km, linking Bermuda to the United States. Designed with an initial capacity of 20 Gbit per second, the new network can be scaled up to 320 Gbit per second. Work on the system started earlier this year and operations are expected to begin by early 2009.

“As a carriers’ carrier, we will sell high capacity transmission pipes to enable all Bermuda’s carriers to deliver new and innovative services. This will ensure that Bermuda continues to be an attractive jurisdiction for the global reinsurance and financial industries and enables all Bermuda customers to enjoy more reliable and cost effective services,” said Vicki Coelho, Chairman of the Cable Co. Marketing Committee.

Alcatel-Lucent is overseeing the entire project and providing a turnkey network for the Challenger roll-out, including responsibility for the network design, installation and commissioning.
With more than 480,000 kilometers of submarine cables laid between continents, Alcatel-Lucent has played a key role in the development and implementation of the most important submarine cable networks in operation today.

“This landing marks a significant new step in the development of Mid Atlantic communications,“ said Etienne Lafougère, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine network activity.