Bulgaria–Georgia communications cable

Caucasus Cable System
Owners:
Caucasus Online, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Landing points

Total length 1,200km
Topology 2 × 2 fibers
Design capacity 1.92Tb/s
Currently lit capacity 19.2Tb/s
Technology repeatered DWDM
Date of first use 21 November 2008 (2008-11-21)

The Bulgaria–Georgia communications cable (BGC) is a Georgian-owned submarine communications cable in the Black Sea linking Poti, Georgia to Balchik, Bulgaria over a distance of approximately 1,200 km. Its landing stations in Balchik then connect to Frankfurt, Germany via terrestrial connection.[1] The only communications cable linking Georgia directly to Europe, BGC is deemed of strategic importance and has been at the center of controversy due to alleged plans to sell it to a Russian-owned company.[2]

Construction

Laying works were completed in July 2008 by the American cable ship CS Tyco Decisive, just a couple of weeks prior to the South Ossetia War.[3] The submarine cable was manufactured and laid by TE Connectivity and compromises two fiber pairs each carrying 96 wavelengths with a bandwidth of 100Gbit/s providing a total bandwidth of 19.2Tbit/s (originally 64 × 10Gbit/s and a total of 1.2Tbit/s).[1] In 2011 an upgrade implemented by TE Connectivity enabled the addition of further wavelengths.[4]

The project was led by Georgia's largest Internet service provider, Caucasus Online. Costs of construction of the submarine cable amounted to $40 million of which $35 million were funded by loans acquired from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). As part of the deal, the EBRD acquired a 5.0% equity stake in the company.[1]

The project involved further investments for terrestrial fibre optic infrastructure from and to the landing stations worth $22 million. On the Bulgarian side a fibre optic link to Varna was built while on the Georgian end a fibre optic link to Georgian neighbour Azerbaijan was laid.[1]

Completion of the project was delayed by around one month due to the 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis.[1]

Russian sale scandal

In February 2016, the Georgian political party Free Democrats blew the whistle on what it claimed were secret negotiations between Caucasus Online and a subsidiary of the Russian company VimpelCom on the sale of BGC to the latter. Commentators expressed grave concern that the transfer of such a strategic communications channel to a Russian firm would jeopardize Georgia's national security and give increased cyber access to the Russian intelligence services. Caucasus Online admitted to partial sale negotiations with VimpelCom, but claimed BGC was not part of the deal. In an apparent effort to downplay the Russian security threats, Caucasus Online director Giorgy Tkeshelashvili added that VimpelCom was an internationally traded company involving people of many different nationalities. Free Democrats maintained that secret negotiations on the fate of BGC were planned in Turkey between Caucasus Online and VimpelCom subsidiaries.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Iva Doneva (20 November 2008). "Georgia's Caucasus Online Invests $40 Mln in Fibre Optic Link to W. Europe via Bulgaria". article. SeeNews. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 "გაზპრომის" შემდეგ შესაძლოა რუსული გავლენის ქვეშ საკომუნიკაციო მაგისტრალი აღმოჩნდეს, Rustavi 2, 7 February 2016
  3. ↑ http://www.tycotelecom.com/company/view.asp?id=298&type=Press
  4. ↑ Courtney McDaniel (19 April 2011). "Caucasus Online and Subcom to upgrade Caucasus undersea fiber optic cable system". press release. TE Connectivity. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
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