The worldwide networking service and IP provider Alcatel-Lucent and the Russian telecom carrier Rostelecom have joined efforts in inaugurating the Europe-Persia Express Gateway project in Russia.

After a considerable number of test runs, the segment of the network stretching across the Russian territory has come online, allowing ultra-broadband connectivity within Russia. The capability is expected to allow the Russian carrier to meet more effectively the increasing demand for high-speed data access.

The network in Russia spans over three and a half thousand kilometers from the Ukrainian border all the way to Azerbaijan and Georgia. The capacity of one optical pair constituting a part of the network is eight terabits per second.

Four telecom operators, each from a different country, came together in 2011 to form a consortium of carriers to lay a new ultra-modern cable network named as the Europe-Persia Express Gateway, or EPEG. Rostelecom was one of the national telecommunications companies that joined in the project. The line constitutes a high-capacity fiber cable linking Europe, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf. Project developers further indicated that there was a possibility of the network’s extension into India.

The initiative to have the EPEG network constructed came as an effort to create an on-land data transmission system as an alternative to existing digital connectors under the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Russian section of the EPEG, brought into operation through the joint efforts of Rostelecom and Alcatel-Lucent, supports superfast connections for voice and data throughout the country. In implementing the project, Alcatel-Lucent provided to Rostelecom its 1830 Photonic Service Switch products that support the 100G standard. The equipment offers high capacity and speed in transmitting bulk volumes of data through long distances. The 1830 Photonic

Service Switch line of products is an innovative solution developed by Alcatel-Lucent to conquer a greater share of the IP and broadband services market around the world.

According to Evgeniy Sekerin, who serves as the director of telecom operations at Rostelecom, the data flow from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent toward Europe will increase significantly in the near term. The new EPEG transmission system will provide the backbone for the rising traffic demand. The network allows minimizing data delivery time because it stretches along the least possible path.

Alcatel-Lucent’s senior country officer for Russia Alexander Tikhonov indicated that his company was glad to partner up with Rostelecom in deploying the EPEG network. In general, Mr. Tikhonov noted that the company’s 100G line of products allows operators to create heavy-duty network lines with extraordinary transmission capabilities, all the while reducing operating cost per one bit of data.