SEA-ME-WE 4 (South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4) started operating. It's a submarine optical fiber system that carries telecommunication between Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and France.
With a length of 18,800 km, It was created to complement the longer SEA-ME-WE 3 cable.
The SEA-ME-WE 4 cable system was developed by a consortium of 16 telecommunications companies which agreed to construct the project on 27 March 2004. Its construction was carried out by Alcatel Submarine Networks and Fujitsu in 18 month duration with an estimated cost of $500 million.
