The FLAG cable system was first placed into commercial service in late 1997. FLAG offered a speed of 10 Gbit/s, and uses synchronous digital hierarchy technology. It carries over 120,000 voice channels via 27,000 kilometres (16,777 miles; 14,579 nautical miles) of mostly undersea cable. FLAG uses erbium-doped fibre amplifiers, and was jointly supplied by AT&T Submarine Systems and KD. OverviewFibre-optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) is a 28,000-kilometre-long (17,398 ; 15,119 ) mostly-The. are: FLAG Europe Asia (FEA) was the first segment opened for commercial use on 22 November 1997. • /,, England, United King. The on 26 December 2006, off the southwest coast of, disrupted services in, affecting many Asian countries. Financial transactions, particularly financial transaction.