A consortium of 16 companies in Qatar has launched the construction of the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) cable. The cable connecting the three continents is planned to be 25,000km long. The AAE-1 cable is one of several initiatives in the region; Oman announced the construction of another cable last month, and a cable connecting Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe is expected to be finished by the end of the year.