Long-awaited EPEG cable launches commercially

According to Azerbaijan’s Trend news agency, the long-delayed Europe Persia Express Gateway (EPEG) fibre-optic system has finally gone live, connecting western Europe to the Middle East. The cable originates in Frankfurt, Germany and traverses eastern Europe, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and the Persian Gulf, before connecting to Muscat in Oman. The launch was confirmed by Russian national operator Rostelecom, one of the co-founders of the project, along with Omantel, Iran-based Telecommunications Infrastructure Company (TIC) and UK-based Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW, now owned by Vodafone Group). The total length of the EPEG cable is around 10,000km, including roughly 9,500km of terrestrial cable. It is expected to help accommodate the increasing traffic from the MENA region, Central Asia, Russia and Europe.