Seacom switches on East Africa

The launch of Seacom is an important milestone for African telecoms and we are delighted to be a part of it by providing the European connectivity from the cable’s landing point in Marseille,” said Interoute CEO Gareth Williams.

“Demand for bandwidth across Africa has been outstripping supply for some time, so the new cable is crucial for the growth of business on the continent.

“Linking our system to the Interoute network provides vital access to Europe and the rest of the world, opening up the region to important business hubs across the globe.”

Seacom becomes the first landing of an unprecedented wave of cable projects on both the eastern and western seaboards of Africa, with an approximated $2.4 billion worth of new submarine cable projects scheduled for completion by the end of 2011.

The East African Marine System (Teams), due later this year, will link Kenya and the United Arab Emirates while the Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), which lands in many of the same countries as Seacom, is expected to commence service in mid-2010.

Four new cable projects are currently planned in the west coast of Africa.

According to TeleGeography’s Global Bandwidth Research Service, international bandwidth demand in sub-Saharan Africa grew 68 per cent between 2007 and 2008.

Seacom will soon be joined by two more cables.

The East African Marine System (Teams), scheduled for completion later in 2009, will link Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, and the Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), which lands in many of the same countries as Seacom, is expected to commence service in mid-2010.

The west coast of Africa, which is currently served only by the SAT-3 cable, is experiencing a similar investment boom — four new cable projects are currently planned.