The coastline of Dubai is rapidly changing as The Palm islands emerge from the sea. Today, the city of Dubai holds approximately 1.5 million people. In 2015 this number is expected to have been increased to 3.0 million. Dubai is currently the fastest growing metropolis on earth.

To promote tourism, three Palm islands are being built by Nakheel in the waters of the Arabian Gulf. Construction on The Palm Jebel Ali will begin this year. Reclamation of The Palm Deira is well underway, while the first Palm - The Palm Jumeirah handed over its first properties to residents at the end of 2006.

The island consists of a trunk, a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometre-long breakwater. The island itself is 5 by 5 kilometres and will add 78 kilometres to the Dubai coastline.

The Palm Jumeirah is primarily a retreat for tourists and a residential area for living, relaxation and leisure. It will contain more than 30 five star hotel brands, three types of residential villas, shoreline apartment buildings, beaches, marinas, restaurants, cafes and a variety of retail outlets.

Dutch involvement in The Palm construction is high because of their vast knowledge and long history of building dikes and other waterworks. Optelecom-NKF, a company with branches all over the world including the Netherlands, was awarded an order from Siemens Building Technologies - Security Systems to supply digital fiber optic transmission equipment in order to monitor the residential areas on The Palm Jumeirah.

The cameras which are located on the fronds are connected to a single control centre in the trunk of the palm. The system consists of more than 200 video and data modules to be used in the security network. Because of its small TX footprint and high picture quality, Optelecom-NKF's Up-the-Fiber (UTF) system was chosen. The UTF series provides high-quality; 9-bit digitized video transmission over extended distances.

In this case, the UTF works with one single-mode optical fibre. The system features a potential free contact to transport alarms from the camera (anti-tamper or door contact). The miniature stand-alone transmitters are suitable to be used within outdoor camera housings or camera connection boxes and are managed with Optelecom-NKF's Smart Network Management (SNM).

"Dubai is one of the fastest growing metropolises on earth, with a population expected to double within the next eight years" says Edmund Ludwig, president and CEO of Optelecom-NKF, Inc. "We are pleased that Siemens Building Technologies - Security Systems selected our technology to help protect one of the wonders of the modern world"