[UgaBYTES] Africa's SEACOM cable goes live

[Sandra Nassali]

The SEACOM fiber-optic cable linking Southern and Eastern Africa to global
telecommunications networks via India and Europe has gone live with high
expectations that it will lower the cost of communications in Africa.

The cable has simultaneously launched in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South
Africa and Uganda. It is widely seen to be opening up opportunities for
governments and business to use the network as a platform to compete
globally and drive economic growth.

Backhauls linking Johannesburg, Nairobi,Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda, with
coastal landing stations have also been established. Additionally, SEACOM is
working with national partners to commission the final link to Kigali,
Rwanda, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The US$600 million cable has direct connections to India and from India to
Europe, making it the first cable to hook east and Southern Africa to India
and Europe. The 17,000 kilometer cable will be providing 1.28T bps (bits per
second) transmission rates.

SEACOM delayed its switch-on date for a month after threats by Somali
pirates along the Indian Ocean route from India to Kenya disrupted the cable
installation plans

SEACOM management is marking the launch of the cable with a 1G bps live
international connection and live high-definition video feed over an IP
network to interconnect representatives and dignitaries across the five
African countries.

The Common market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Secretary General
Sindiso Ngwenya said that most countries in the Comesa region will connect
to the cable for broadband services.
"In fact [in the] Comesa region, we are constructing a fiber cable called
the Lower Indian Ocean Network under the Indian Ocean that will connect to
the SEACOM cable for broadband services to our member countries," Ngwenya
said.

Many other countries in the Comesa region, Ngwenya said, are developing
inland cables that will soon be connected to the SEACOM cable.

Read more HERE<http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2009/07/23/africas-seacom-cable-goes-live>

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Sandra Nassali
Community Facilitator
UgaBYTES Initiative (www.ugabytes.org)
Telecentre.org  (www.telecentrecommunity.ning.com)
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