Main One, Seacom in capacity agreement for internet services

…may speed up process to link Nigeria, S/Africa via undersea cable
Ben Uzor Jr.

Underwater cable operators, Main One and Seacom, said on Wednesday that they had interconnected their West and East African cable systems, offering connection between any point of presence (POP) between South Africa and Nigeria. Analysts told BusinessDay on Wednesday that this partnership may provide the needed conditions and prompt investors behind MainOne, a Nigerian-led system built on open access principles, to expedite processes to extend their cable south to South Africa (SA).

“MainOne has had plans for a phase-two extension of its cable to South Africa for some time. This may provide the incentive it requires to move forward with the second phase of the project”, one industry analysts who pleaded anonymity told BusinessDay on Wednesday. Moreover, the joint solution would be provided on an open-access basis and would be immediately available, providing customers with a timing advantage ahead of the completion of other planned submarine cable systems around Africa.

Other planned undersea cables in Africa include: the West African Cable System (WACS) being constructed from Europe to Africa – an initiative operated by nine countries (MTN Group inclusive). The cable has already landed in Togo and is expected to berth on the coast of Nigeria by the end of the first quarter of 2011. There is also the ACE cable covering Nigeria and other countries which will stretch 17,000 kilometres from Penmarch, France, to Cape Town, South Africa, connecting 23 countries.

Besides, the cable will have built-in 40 gigabit per second capability and it is slated to be operational in the first-half of 2012. Funke Opeke, chief executive officer, MainOne, in a statement made available to BusinessDay on Wednesday, said: “While efforts to implement a physical cable between Nigeria and South Africa continue, we have joined our cables together in Europe to satisfy many of our customers’ immediate requirements for capacity between Nigeria and South Africa.”

MainOne offers open access, wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa. Its submarine cable system commenced operations in July 2010, linking West Africa to the rest of the world via Portugal and the United Kingdom (UK). On the other hand, Brian Herlihy, chief executive officer, Seacom, stated that the company holds the view that a ring-type system around the entire continent is the best way to attain adequate redundancy while offering customers a comprehensive connectivity solution.

“The announcement shows our determination to find a viable way to extend our system with partners who share our vision to build the African internet.” Seacom is a privately financed, developed and owned submarine fibre optic cable network providing broadband capacity to Africa through the sale of wholesale international bandwidth and associated services on an open-access basis since July 2009. Stretching 17 000km along the eastern and southern African coastlines and onwards to India and Europe, the Seacom system connects many African countries including South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

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