Gibtelecom, Gibraltar’s fixed line incumbent, has revealed that it has signed an agreement to lease capacity on the Europe India Gateway (EIG) submarine cable from Monaco Telecom (MT). Monaco and Gibraltar are both directly connected to the submarine cable as landing stations, and the new agreement also sees Gibtelecom becoming a ‘communications carrier of choice’ for MT. Gibtelecom CEO Tim Bristow commented: ‘This mutually beneficial deal strengthens a longstanding friendship between both companies. The partnership means that, as well as Monaco Telecom leasing some capacity on the EIG cable, Gibtelecom separately acquires a diverse international route to other European destinations, transiting Monaco through the EIG landing station there. This will be the first time in over a century that a communications link from Gibraltar has headed directly east by sea from Gibraltar’.
TeleGeography notes that Gibtelecom is currently co-owned by the government of Gibraltar and Telekom Slovenije. The latter acquired its 50% stake in the company from US-based Verizon in April 2007.