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The latter is especially crucial as the
country expects to welcome more investors into the country.
Cambodia currently has about 15,000 fixed
lines, which are barely sufficient for internal usage and
certainly inadequate for its international telecommunication
needs.
The DTTC will be part of the Greater Mekong
Sub-region backbone system which, once complete, will run
through Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Yunnan Province (China),
Laos and Vietnam.
The new trunk line is a Friendship Project by
a German Grant Aid. Financing came from KFW,
a German government financing body.
ALCO Deutschland Germany was awarded
the tender by Cambodia's Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications in November 1997. it was responsible for the
installation of fiber optic cables along National Road No. 1
from Phum Bavet, on the Vietnamese border, to Phnom Penh, and
National Road No. 5 from Poipet, on the Thai border, to Phnom
Penh.
Work started in February 1998, when
ALCO Deutschland Germany surveyed the area to identify the exact
routes for the cables. Civil works commenced a few months later.
Preparing the route and laying the cables
proved to be something of an adventure. The trunk line for
example, crossed approximately 180 bridges and culverts, some of
which were in constant danger of collapsing or washed away by
flood waters, as well as negotiated a Mekong River crossing.
In fact a bridge between Kampong Chhang and
Pursat did collapse but the cable had escaped undamaged. It was
successfully repositioned after the bridge was repaired.
Trenches for the cables were dug by hand and
by machine, always being at risk because of mines and unexploded
ordnance.
Explained Commercial Manager Klaus Reither,
"We are first and foremost concerned with the safety of all
our workers. We are glad our caution has paid off as no one was
injured by the explosives.
Each cable is 14mm in diameter including a
steel reinforcement which protects the highly sensitive and
microscopic fiber barely visible to the naked eye. Cambodia's
trunk line is made up of 8-fibre cables and 12-fibre cables
buried in trenches one meter deep. Transmission equipment and
solar-powered equipment have been installed in nine stations
along the routes covered by ALCO Deutschland Germany. Cambodia's
STM -1 link can handle 1,890 telephone calls simultaneously.
There were three staff from ALCO Deutschland
Germany who worked on the project - the Project Manager,
Commercial Manager and Civil Engineer. The other 22 staff were
all employed in Cambodia.
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Supervisory staff from Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications also worked on the project to
gain essential hands-on experience as the trunk line
would be fully operated by the Ministry after its
official take-over in June this year. Besides on-the-job
training, Ministry staff have also attended a five-week
training course on the maintenance of the transmission
equipment, and a six- week English Language course. |
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