Work starts on laying an undersea fiber-optic cable to Cuba

(22 Jan 2011) SHOTLIST
1. Pan right to ship on the Venezuelan coast
2. Mid of the Alcatel-Lucent ship
3. Close up of French flag on ship and workers lowering fibre-optic cable into sea
4. Small boat with a Venezuelan flag next to ship
5. Sign on ship reading Alcatel-Lucent
6. Close of ship's radar
7. Close of helicopter
8. Helicopter flying over the cable suspended by a line of buoys
9. Line of buoys and ship behind
10. Close of buoy and cable under the water
11. Buoy on the beach with a picture of the Venezuelan and Cuban flags, reading: "ALCATEL-LUCENT TGC. ALBA 1- VENEZUELA 2011;" ship behind
12. Various representatives of Cuba, Jamaica, France and Venezuela speaking on the beach
13. Zoom out from men holding the fibre optic cable, SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricardo Menendez, Venezuelan minister of technology:
"A connection where the world says: stop the blockade against Cuba, unity for the countries, unity for the integration and advance in benefit of the humanity."
14. Zoom out from children and officials from Cuba and Venezuela holding buoy
15. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricardo Menendez, Venezuelan minister of technology
"This cable will run 1630 kilometres to Cuba and then it will run 230 kilometres to Jamaica."
16. Venezuelan and Cuban flags in the beach and buoys and divers in the sea
17. Tilt down from Venezuelan and Cuban flags to diver
18. Close up of divers
19. Divers near the Venezuelan and Cuban flag, and ship behind
20 Back focus from palm tree to Venezuelan and Cuban flag
21. Mid of divers walking
22. Various of waves crashing against the rocks
STORYLINE:
A specialised ship began laying an undersea fibre-optic cable between Venezuela and Cuba on Saturday, a connection that will dramatically improve Cuba's telephone and Internet services.
Officials from the two countries launched the project at a ceremony on Venezuela's Camuri beach near the port of La Guaira.
Alcatel-Lucent SA of Paris is carrying out the project for the two countries' state telecommunications companies.
Cuban officials have said it is expected to cost about 70 (m) million US dollars.
The ship is scheduled to reach Cuba around February 8, and the cable will be functional in late June or early July, said Jose Ignacio Quintero, a manager for Alcatel-Lucent.
The cable will span about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) across the Caribbean Sea to Siboney in eastern Cuba. A second segment of about 150 miles (245 kilometres) will extend from Cuba to nearby Jamaica.
Cuba is the only nation in the Western Hemisphere that is not linked to the outside world by optical fibre. Instead, it relies on slow, expensive satellite links because the U.S. government's embargo has prevented most trade between the island and the United States, and has made companies in other countries shy away from doing business with Cuba.
The cable is one of many joint projects promoted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's communist government. It is dubbed "ALBA-1," after the Bolivarian Alternative bloc that includes Venezuela, Cuba and other left-leaning allies.
Cuban Ambassador Rogelio Polanco praised Chavez's government for what he called a historic connection that is "breaking the United States' criminal blockade against our country".
During the event, Venezuelan minister of technology Ricardo Menendez also demanded an end to the blockade.
US President Barack Obama's administration loosened some embargo restrictions in 2009, opening possibilities for cooperation with Cuba in telecommunications.
The US government has approved a maximum of 60 US cents per minute.

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