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WACS lands in SA
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PDF The 14 000km long fibre optic submarine cable system which spans the west coast of Africa and terminates in London, was landed by Telkom this morning.
“South Africa needs a 3rd international fibre gateway to reduce the risk of complete isolation from the rest of the world. Telkom operates submarine cable gateways at Mtunzini, Melkbosstrand and now also at Yzerfontein,” says Casper Chihaka, managing executive: Telkom Wholesale Services.
According to the WACS consortium, which consists of several of the country’s major operators, the total project cost will not exceed $650 million.
With a full capacity of 5.12 terabits per second (Tbps) and an initial capacity of over 500 Gbps, which is upgradable at any stage of the project – WACS will raise broadband capacity across Africa’s west coast significantly.
“The cable has 15 established terminal stations along route and will function to reduce the cost to connect the west coast of Africa into the high-speed global telecommunications network for many years to come,” says WACS in a statement.
WACS is a 4-fibre pair cable system linking SA to Portugal. It has 15 established terminal stations along route which include SA, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Canary Island, Portugal, UK and a Point of Presence in London.
“Its design of 4 fibre pair and 128 wavelength technology make WACS the largest cable system to ever land in Sub Sahara Africa. It will be capable of carrying the equivalent traffic of Seacom, EASSy and SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cable systems combined. WACS will meet the demand for capacity well into the 1st quarter of the 21st century,” says Angus Hay co-Chair of the WACS management committee.
The WACS Consortium members consist of Angola Cables, Broadband Infraco; Cable&Wireless Worldwide; Congo Telecom.; MTN; Tata Communications, Telecom Namibia; Telkom SA; and Vodacom Group.
The cable system was manufactured and installed by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Cable Networks (ASN), and has been under construction since 2009.
“The African continent still yearns for affordable higher speed connectivity. Meeting the needs for increased capacity along the cable route, this network will enable the landing countries to be served by a system offering significant capacity and lowering the cost of broadband in support of economic growth and innovative applications such as e-education and e-health that can positively impact peoples’ lives,” says Andrew Shaw, interim CEO of Broadband Infraco.
7:48 am
Really great news for all south africans. this will go along way in ensuring citizen get affordable and up to scratch broadband connectivity..