BLUERAMAN SUBMARINE CABLE

The project concerns the completion of the implementation of the Blue-Raman submarine cable system, which is a 12,700 km fibre optic cable that will connect Europe to India, crossing through the Middle-East, and landing in the east coast of Africa along the way. The project scope will specifically include the promoter's share of the following parts of the Blue-Raman system: 1) the part of the main trunk from Palermo, Italy to Tel-Aviv, Israel, the branches serving Algiers, Algeria, Bizerte, Tunisia, Chania, Greece and Yeroskipou, Cyprus; 2) the part of the terrestrial crossing between Aqaba, Jordan and Dubai, Saudi Arabia; and 3) the main trunk from Dubai to Mumbai, India, and the branch serving Djibouti. In total, these elements represent around 9,250 km of fibre optic cable. The project will also include a sub-system dedicated to the interconnection of the research and education institutions in the targeted regions, enhancing global research collaboration and innovation.

The objective of the grant is to future-proof and increase the resilience of the interconnection of Asian, African and Middle East research and academic communities with their European counterparts, and among them directly without passing through the GÉANT network in Europe as it is the case today, in support of its international scientific collaborations. GÉANT will get the right of use of a portion of a fibre pair on the Blue-Raman submarine cable, as opposed to a simple link with a certain capacity, meaning that this research and education "sub-system" could be upgraded up to the physical maximum according to the latest technology at each moment in time, and could also be re-configured to adapt to the evolving connectivity needs of the participating entities, for example changing the routes defined or the capacity allocation. Access to this level in a network, under a cost-oriented model, is reserved to the owners of the system and anchor tenants committing to substantial investments. The Blue-Raman system includes the following components: 1) a Mediterranean segment (called "Blue"), from France to Israel; 2) a terrestrial crossing from Israel to Jordan and Saudi Arabia; and 3) a Red sea / Indian ocean segment (called "Raman") from Saudi Arabia to India.

Investments in telecommunications projects do not fall under Annex I or II of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Directive 2011/92/EU. Usually, the deployment of telecommunication infrastructures have limited environmental effects, apart from minor disturbances during construction, which can be properly mitigated by applying industry-standard measures. For the specific case of submarine cables, the cable landings are usually subject to environmental studies for their approval. This can vary depending on the jurisdiction. The relevant legislations and full environmental details will be analysed during appraisal.

The vast majority of the project's procurement has been completed. The promoter has selected a reputable European vendor, Alcatel Submarine Networks for the project's largest component which is the supply and implementation of the submarine cable. The supplier selected for the Submarine Line Terminal Equipment is the American firm Infinera, one of the world leaders in the sector. The rest of the contracts are not significant. The procurement of the project has been carried out in compliance with the EIB's guide to procurement for operations in the private sector. The promoter is a private entity without exclusive rights and therefore it is not subject to public procurement rules. The promoter will make payments to the contractors.