Optical Kuwait.
There were rumors in the past that Kuwait was going to get Fiber connection to the homes. Then there were rumors that they decided not to do it and go with copper (Somebody important sells copper cables). Then there were rumors that Siemens was going to do it (I tend to be more trustworthy when it does not involve kuwaiti governments.).
Recent News:
Kuwait’s Ministry of Communications selects Alcatel for advanced broadband fiber network.
MOC’s access network will be gradually upgraded by replacing the existing copper access with a passive optical fiber infrastructure. Subscribers will benefit from Alcatel’s state-of-the art converged access infrastructure that enables the delivery of services like voice, high speed Internet, voice and multimedia over IP, and IPTV (including high definition TV, video on demand, and home entertainment).
“Based on the latest telecommunication technology, the new network will be the platform from which to provide an extensive range of broadband and narrowband services to Kuwaiti homes. It will position Kuwait as the country with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructure in the region. We also believe that selecting a major vendor like Alcatel is a key to success”, said Mr. Nabeel Bin Salamah, assistant Undersecretary, Kuwait MOC.
That said .. I refuse to believe any more rumors. I will only believe that Kuwait has a fiber connection, when and if I see a glowing red cable entering my house that actually works. And no offense to Mr. Salamah, but its going to take a bit more than Alcatel for us to surpass Dubai .. unless by region he means Kuwait City.
Im getting 1.5 Mb/s now on Qnet on the exisiting copper network, how fast can i expect to get on this new network? anyone know anything about this so called passive optical structure speeds? one more thing i think we are screwed big time by isps here in kuwait for the prices we pay here we can get T1s and T3s in the US. BTW the prices are gonna fall from the 3rd of september KEMS will be offering home DSL at cut throat pricing. YAaaaay for competition! thanks for the info.
How fast is fiber?
In theory fiber is extremely fast. However .. theory does not work that well with Kuwait + Internet.
To give you an example of fiber speeds and prices in USA(limited areas) this is what Verizon-FIOS is offering:
Up to 5 Mbps/2 Mbps $39.95
Up to 15 Mbps/2 Mbps $49.95
Up to 30 Mbps/5 Mbps $199.95 (20 times faster than 1.5mbps, and much cheaper)
Fast internet speeds are not the only advantages to Fiber. I will dedicate a post in the future of what can be accomplished with a decent Fiber network in Kuwait. However, if anyone steals my ideas .. I will have to stab them with a rusty knife; Unless of course they give me credit and money.
what i know is that it still is supposed to go through, at 3 dif phases, with 3 dif companies, one of which is Siemens, another is Sultan Telecom (TSC), and i think Alcatel is 3rd.
I heard about the Sultan deal a while ago:
The Kuwait Ministry of Communications awarded a US $17 million contract for the supply, installation, and maintenance of the fiber optic cable and transmission network, employing digital Cross-Connect, STM-16, STM-4, and SDH equipment to interconnect various exchanges in Kuwait.
I never knew that there were phases… However, my position still stands… I will believe it only after there is a glowing red cable in my house that works. I am aware that Fiber utilizes different colors to make maximum use of the bandwidth .. but I want red.
I am in kuwait I want to know when it is being introduced in Kuwait this optical system network so that I can also get it and what is the cost of this network and where could I get this facility of broadband for Net. Who is the agent and whom should I contact for this job.