GBI activates network operations centre

Neil Axford makes a presentation on the Gulf Bridge International’s Network Operations Centre (NOC) yesterday. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed

Gulf Bridge International’s Network Operations Centre (NOC) was “fully activated” at the Qatar Science and Technology Park yesterday. The NOC is the “nerve centre” for the region’s “highest capacity and most geographically comprehensive” cable network, connecting all the nations of the Gulf onwards to the data centres of Europe and Asia.  “It is truly remarkable to look through this facility onto the vibrant and growing information exchange taking place across the Gulf and beyond,” said Ahmed Mekky, GBI board member and CEO. “This nerve centre manages a tremendous amount of digital traffic every second. To grasp its enormous capacity, imagine being able to transfer about 7,000 full-length movies every second across the GBI cable system. Such capacity will help provide the ICT backbone, meeting the ambitious development plans of the Gulf well into the future.”The centre will be responsible for round-the-clock monitoring of GBI’s subsea and terrestrial network operations and is taking command from its back-up counterpart in Fujairah, UAE. The GBI Cable System has a design capacity of 40G, roughly four times the Gulf’s current standard, with portions upgraded to 100G. The cable system connects all the countries in the Gulf in a robust ring configuration. Outside the Gulf, the cable connects eastwards to Mumbai, India and westwards to Sicily, Italy, with diverse routing to Milan and onwards to London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and Marseilles. “In order to guarantee superior customer service, the Network Operations Centre exists to manage day to day operations on the GBI Cable System so that the service is transparent to GBI’s customers,” said Neil Axford, GBI director (Network Operations). “Through 24/7 monitoring, the NOC team oversees the network activity on the cable system so that in the event of a disturbance, it is addressed immediately and efficiently.”Gulf Bridge International (GBI) is a private company dedicated to connecting the GCC countries with each other and to the rest of the world, using the latest fibre optic technologies. The GBI cable is developed and owned by GCC investors who are building this strategic infrastructure to serve the entire region. GBI said it intends to be the “carrier of choice” for traffic to and from the Gulf, facilitating social and economic growth in the region.