Jordan Telecom (JTC) has selected Alcatel and Cisco Systems to be the suppliers of equipment for the country's data communications network that will allow for faster connections and data transfer to the world wide web after the projects conclusion by years end, Pierre Mattei, chief Executive Officer of JT, said on Thursday.
“By this selection, Jordan Telecom starts the implementation of the long- awaited data network and Internet service architecture ... which is an answer to His Majesty King Abdullah's call for creating the means for Jordan's technological success,” Mattei said during a press conference.
The new network will offer world class advanced service and it will contribute to create an added value to the software industry in Jordan,” he said.
According to JTC officials, the new network will increase Internet penetration in the Kingdom because it will provide high-speed connections (64kbps to 7Mbps), high availability redundant routers and ATM switches, high speed Internet connectivity and end-to-end digital connectivity.
JTC intends to launch the network for Greater Amman by December and create a national Internet hub including national switching and international connectivity through the FLAG connection and the satellite, he said.
Other parts of the capital will be connected to the network next March. By then, the hub service will also extend to the region.
Earlier this year, JTC signed an agreement with Fibre Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) to connect the Kingdom with FLAG cables which extend from Japan to Europe to the US in order to increase the country's Internet and telephone capacity eight fold.
The network will serve residential customers with Internet access facilities and corporate customers regarding data transmission and Internet access service.
There are less than 20,000 Internet subscribers in the Kingdom, and industry sources estimated that users are around 96,000.
According to a survey published last month by the University of Jordan's Center for Strategic Studies, Internet users have increased from 5.3 percent in 1999 to 7.1 percent this year, and mostly thanks to the thriving business of the Internet Cafes, from where one in every two Internet users goes on-line.
The Internet was first made available in Jordan in October 1995, on the occasion of the Amman Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Economic Summit. - (Jordan Times)
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
