C&W Networks and TE SubCom Extend Pan-Caribbean Partnership to Provide Capacity Upgrades to Multiple Cable Systems

EATONTOWN, NJ and MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Sep 21, 2016) - C&W Networks, a division of Cable & Wireless Communications, (C&W), one of the largest full service communications and entertainment providers in the Caribbean and Latin American region, now part of Liberty Global (LiLAC Group), is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, to complete an immediate upgrade to the ECLink (Trinidad-Curacao) system. ECLink is the latest regional system within C&W Networks' 48,000 km of subsea fiber to receive an upgrade to its capacity using TE SubCom technology. The agreement upholds TE SubCom's presence in the Caribbean and extends its 15-year-long relationship with C&W Networks.

Highlights / Key Facts

ECLink Upgrade

• Built in 2007 by TE SubCom, ECLink is a 938 km regional undersea cable system connecting Trinidad and Curacao.
• The upgraded system will be designed to accommodate five 100 Gb plug-and-play wavelengths and will have two 100 Gb wavelengths activated.
• The plug-and-play design enables cable station personnel to easily install and provision the transceiver to efficiently provide additional capacity and meet consistently growing customer capacity needs.

Fifteen Years of Successful Partnership

• The ECLink upgrade follows a similar 100 Gb plug-and-play upgrade to C&W Networks' CFX-1, the fastest route between the United States and Colombia.
• CFX-1 is a 2,500 km regional cable system manufactured and installed by TE SubCom and entered into service in 2008 to provide high bandwidth connectivity between Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A., and Cartagena, Colombia and a branch to Morant Point, Jamaica.
• Since first engaging with C&W Networks in 2001, TE SubCom has constructed and upgraded three regional systems, including the ARCOS, Trinidad Curacao and CFX-1 networks. Each originally designed for 10Gbps transmission, TE SubCom has, in recent years, increased capacity by 2Tb/s across the three networks.

"We're excited to once again partner with TE SubCom and pleased to have chosen them as the provider for the ECLink regional upgrade," said Paul Scott, president of C&W Networks. "Our capacity upgrades across the Pan-Caribbean region will help us meet the high performance and network reliability needed so we can offer better and faster services that meet the ever evolving needs of our wholesale carrier customers."