• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 02 / 09 / 2011

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Published February 09, 2011. CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- An underwater fiber-optic cable linking Venezuela to Cuba has reached the island nation, an official said on a Venezuelan state website Wednesday.

The nearly 1,000-mile project, which was laid by French company Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALU, ALU.FR), reached the coast of Siboney, Cuba, about three weeks after work began, said Wilfredo Morales, president of Telecomunicaciones Gran Caribe, a joint venture between Venezuela and Cuba.

The cable will undergo testing over the next three months, Morales said on Venezuelan state news website AVN. Government officials said last month that installation of the cable would be finished by July.

The project, Cuba's first fiber-optic cable, is slated to improve the quality of the country's internet access. Until now, Cuba has relied on satellites for telecommunications.

President Hugo Chavez, who has a close relationship with former Cuban President Fidel Castro and has strengthened economic ties between the two nations, has hailed the project as a way to break Washington's nearly half-century trade embargo on Cuba. Dow Jones Newswires

Source: www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/02/09/