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Pakistan To Deploy Fiber Optic Cable to Connect with China

AstanoshKhan

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By Mehwish Khan · Wednesday, Dec 29, 2010

Government said that it will deploy cross border Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) system at a cost of Rs 3.7 billion between Pakistan and China for security of information, reported Business Recorder, quoting official sources.

Paper said that the need of this cross-country fiber optic cable grew after security concerns from Pakistan and China, who fear the possibility of India monitoring the communication activities, through already active undersea cables.

The project was deliberated at a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) under the chairmanship Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shakih.

The project consists of laying 820 km of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) along the Karakaram Highway, from Rawalpindi to Khunjrab Pass (Chinese border via Mansehra, Chilas, Danyore (Gligit), Karimabad and Sust).

At present, Pakistan’s international connectivity with the world is through undersea cables SEA-ME-WE 3&4 and IMEWE, and Pakistan is connected through spurs only.

“This dependency is not only a risk but also entails security concerns. The voice/data and internet traffic can be monitored and disturbed easily by India,” sources said. To divert such a threat, sources said, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with China in April 2007 for the establishment of a secure international OFC link between China and Pakistan along Karakaram Highway which is being widened by China Road and Bridge Company.

Through this project, a link will be created between Pakistan and Trans-Asia Europe (TAE) cable in China, which would enable both Pakistan and China to have alternative routes for their international telecom traffic, sources added.

Successful implementation of the project would provide Pakistan with a direct telecom access to China and the Central Asian States
. Thus, development of telecom infrastructure will facilitate trade with these countries and would also promote tourism in the region, sources quoted Ministry of Information Technology as commenting on the project.

Apart from security assurance, the project is expected to generate revenue, approximately Rs 1.5 billion in the first three years and, in the fourth year, the financial dividends are likely to grow.

The project would be funded within Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) and out of a Chinese soft loan. The project also involves Rs 3.2 billion foreign exchange component (FEC).
 
If it can improve Ping on Chinese gaming servers.....Then Do it ASAP...... :P
 
its in PKR and there must be some other parts which are not disclosed. btw it should have been done along tiem before.
 
seriously i am forced to think by this deal that something quite fishy is being cooked between two countries. Which is so confidential.

Anyway the amount of project.. 3.7 Billion PKR is quite over the top. i have been working on a FOC related project.. single mode FOC, 24/ 48 core from any vendor is available at $1.00 per meter. providing other hardware like Junction boxes, patch panles, splicing labour cost, building master control rooms, local control rooms and labour etc, the amount cannot be 3.7 Billion PKR.

huh...:coffee: Another room for our corrupt politicians and moron babus of bureaucracy..
 
seriously i am forced to think by this deal that something quite fishy is being cooked between two countries. Which is so confidential.

Anyway the amount of project.. 3.7 Billion PKR is quite over the top. i have been working on a FOC related project.. single mode FOC, 24/ 48 core from any vendor is available at $1.00 per meter. providing other hardware like Junction boxes, patch panles, splicing labour cost, building master control rooms, local control rooms and labour etc, the amount cannot be 3.7 Billion PKR.

huh...:coffee: Another room for our corrupt politicians and moron babus of bureaucracy..
well 3.7 billion rupees is about 43 million dollars i think.

May be 1 million dollars for the cable, $1 million labour cost. The line will be spread on a very high snow-filled mountains so may be they might be having a back-up line too... and also like you mentioned "other hardware like Junction boxes, patch panles, splicing labour cost, building master control rooms, local control rooms etc".

May be the whole project should have cost 5-10 million dollars in a rough estimate but then we do not know how long it is going to take to spread this line between the two countries. The longer it takes, the more costly it will be

Surely signs of corruption can't be neglected but thats what we have in the country at the moment
 
seriously i am forced to think by this deal that something quite fishy is being cooked between two countries. Which is so confidential.

Anyway the amount of project.. 3.7 Billion PKR is quite over the top. i have been working on a FOC related project.. single mode FOC, 24/ 48 core from any vendor is available at $1.00 per meter. providing other hardware like Junction boxes, patch panles, splicing labour cost, building master control rooms, local control rooms and labour etc, the amount cannot be 3.7 Billion PKR.

huh...:coffee: Another room for our corrupt politicians and moron babus of bureaucracy..

The cost is not just of the material to be used, rather look at the digging to be done on the treacherous mountains of the Karakoram, the labor which has to be housed, fed and maintained on those difficult mountains and other associated costs with transportation and God knows what not.

Budget of Projects at such kind of places rocket up due to the difficulty they have to face, am sure had such project been initiated at other non-mountainous, populated area, it would be have been much less, but since you guys may have an idea how hard is it up there in Karakoram, the cost of any project over there goes up.
 
Good news. I hope this development will put ease to the already strained single way for us to connect to the internet by providing an alternate, as well as providing a greater bandwidth. My only concern would be if this alternate be less prone to natural disasters such earthquakes, storms etc.
 
I agree with TaimiKhan that to develop projects as such on the mountainous regions like Karakoram, is quite difficult. I think this project will go underway in parallel to the other project which is to widen the Karakoram Highway. No time line is yet provided.
 
The cost is not just of the material to be used, rather look at the digging to be done on the treacherous mountains of the Karakoram, the labor which has to be housed, fed and maintained on those difficult mountains and other associated costs with transportation and God knows what not.

Budget of Projects at such kind of places rocket up due to the difficulty they have to face, am sure had such project been initiated at other non-mountainous, populated area, it would be have been much less, but since you guys may have an idea how hard is it up there in Karakoram, the cost of any project over there goes up.

Again having experience of such projects, i can surely tell you that civil works at mountain areas is 'peanuts'. Digging is done by blasting and labour is quite cheap in Gilgit Baltisitan area.. moreover china sure will deploy her labour as well. Apart of digging trench to lay the cable, authorities might decide to use OPGW to make Electrical Power Supply towers work for them...:)

Whatever the motive is, i wish and pray that the amount of poor pakistani tax payers not to go in wrong hands..
 
The price is understandable. Fiber Optic Cables are very expensive but the transfer of information is fast,reliable and very secure.
 
This certainly is good news but if memory serves me right most of the job has already been done. PTCL OFC exists between Rawalpindi and Abbottabad. The cable was laid by SCO (Special Communication Orgnaization - a Govt owned Army operated Telco) between Abbottabad and Gilgit a few years back. In fact the route followed was Abbottabad > Gilgit > Hunza > Karimabad. Also Skardu was added in the loop and it went up to Minimerg. So if they want to lay it again it doesn&#8217;t make much sense. Why not simply extend from there to Khunjerab and that&#8217;s all. Even about three years back there was talk of extending it to China.
 

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