Jordan, Egypt ink cooperation agreement to build undersea cable

Cairo: Jordan and Egypt signed a cooperation agreement, on Thursday in Cairo, to build an undersea cable. The first undersea cable to link communications between the Kingdom and the Arab Republic of Egypt through the cities of Aqaba and Taba is to be named the Coral Bridge. In the presence of the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, and the Jordanian Ambassador to Egypt, Amjad Adaileh, the agreement was signed by Mohamed Nasr, CEO of Telecom Egypt, and Eyad Abu Kharma, the CEO of Naitel, Jordan's telecom service provider. Talaat underlined that the construction of the underwater cable between Egypt and Jordan improves efforts to consolidate bilateral relations between the two nations in the sphere of communications and information technology. It is the outcome of the discussions held over the past few months to strengthen cooperative efforts in the area of global digital infrastructure. Adaileh, for his part, highlighted the successful collaboration between Egypt and Jordan in the telecommunications industry, as well as the expanding and multidisciplinary cooperation between Jordan and Egypt, and their desire to achieve integration in critical sectors. These developments are consistent with the joint and effective Jordanian-Egyptian relations vision that His Majesty King Abdullah II and His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi have adopted. For his part, Eng. Nasr stated that, given Jordan's advantageous location and Naitel's superior infrastructure knowledge in Jordan, the cable is a fundamental component of our plan to increase our footprint in nearby nations. "We are proud to announce this partnership with Telecom Egypt, which will make Jordan and Egypt an innovative destination between East and West," stated Eng. Eyad Abu Kharma.The Aqaba Digital Center benefits from Telecom Egypt's flexible transit network and broad footprint, making it a unique neutral meeting place between Europe, Asia, and Africa. Through this collaboration, a complete technological solutio n that connects Aqaba and Europe seamlessly will be made available." The Egyptian city of Taba in the Sinai Peninsula will serve as a new pivot point for numerous proposed undersea cables, and the new infrastructure between Taba and Aqaba will be a crucial crossing for international communications between Asia, Africa, and Europe. Source: Jordan News Agency