Mumbai: Flag Telecom Group Limited (Flag), the undersea cable network arm of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications, has announced a landmark deal with CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), the European organisation for nuclear research based in Geneva, Switzerland and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai to provide gigabit Ethernet connectivity between the two.

TIFR is CERN''s Indian data centre partner.

"It''s pleasing to win this business from such a reputable organisation. We have long since been developing our Ethernet service across our global network and firmly believe it to be the cornerstone of next generation networks," Flag Telecom president Punit Garg said in a release. RCom, however, did not reveal the size of the deal.

CERN requires a best-in-class solution that delivers uninterrupted, flexible high bandwidth capacity allowing TIFR access to the enormous data volumes generated by CERN''s particle experiment programme in Geneva.

"The substantially increased connectivity provided by Flag Telecom will enable the TIFR to fully collaborate as part of the worldwide LHC computing grid. This grid involves over 150 institutes around the globe in the storage and analysis of Peta-bytes of scientific data," David Foster, head, networking and communications systems, CERN, said.

"Flag''s global Ethernet service addressed all of CERN''s needs," said Flag Telecom.

Flag Telecom owns and operates the world''s largest private undersea cable system spanning 65,000 route km and four continents.

The global Ethernet market is predicted to grow to $25 billion by 2010 and Flag is intensifying its focus on addressing it, said Garg."Our vast experience as a global cable operator has taught us the importance of absolute quality. The recent acquisition of Yipes demonstrates our commitment to innovation and addressing our customers changing needs," he added.