The longest fibre optic underwater cable link in the Mediterranean, which will link Algeria and Palma, will cost 16.15 million euros (2'678 million pesetas), with Telefónica, the Spanish Telephone Company, providing two million euros. The project, ALPAL-2, will involve the Algerian government, Pirelli Submarine Telecom Systems, who won the contract, Telecom Italia and France Telecom. The cable is due to start operating in the second half of 2002, and will be 320 kilometres long with a maximum transmission capacity of 160 gigabytes per second. It will increase the role of the Balearics as an international communications centre in the Mediterranean.
High cost of cable