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EASSy Cable System Launched to Boost Eastern Africa Connectivity
IT News Online Staff
2010-08-10
Bharti Airtel Ltd., together with other global telecom companies, announced the launch of the EASSy cable system, which will boost connectivity of East African countries with rest of the world. This 10,000 km cable has received investment of around $263 million and has a capacity of 1.4 Tbps, making it the largest submarine cable system serving the African continent.
EASSy is the first East coast system to connect a direct route to Europe thereby helping to deliver data traffic faster to key Internet peering points in Europe and North America. It connects Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan (in Sudan) with landing points in nine countries.
This cable system is expected to prove a boon in proliferation of broadband connectivity to all parts of Africa, a prerequisite for the successful production of e-commerce, Internet and other broadband applications and projects on the continent.
Ajay Chitkara, CEO, Global Data Business , Bharti Airtel, said, "Our investment of over $500 million over the last two years are designed to create a global network that offers unmatched resilience and maximum diversity. The commencement of EASSy cable system is a significant step in our journey to create a robust undersea cable infrastructure for our customers. It will also safeguard and ensure all time connectivity of East African countries with the world. This will facilitate proliferation of ICT services thereby ensuring macro economic development of the region. Bharti Airtel is proud to be part of the consortium building this significant undersea cable system."
"EASSy represents a bridge for Africa’s broadband infrastructure by linking Africa to the global broadband infrastructure network. The presence and partnership of global players such as Bharti Airtel means that EASSy can and will also act as a bridge for South-South cooperation. This link delivers an important direct route for efficient flow of information for trade, economic, social and other cooperation between Asia and Africa," said Trevor Martins, Chairman of the EASSy Cable Management Committee.
"I trust that the achievement of this economic expansion is a clear indicator that the initial objectives of EASSy go far beyond just the simple delivery of infrastructure," added Martins.
The consortium comprises of 16 telecom operators including Bharti Airtel and other players like British Telecom, Etisalat, Saudi Telecom, MTN International Group, Telkom South Africa and others. EASSy landing stations include Port Sudan, Djibouti, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Moroni in Comoros Islands, Toliary in Madagascar, Maputo in Mozambique and Mtunzini in South Africa.
This cable link synergizes with Bharti Airtel’s existing multiple high speed connectivity options for its global wholesale operations and offers a direct route to Europe from India. Bharti Airtel’s investments in EASSy, is part of its plans to expand it global network through its ownership of the i2i submarine cable system and consortium ownership in other global undersea cable systems like Unity, SEA-ME-WE 4, EIG, I-ME-WE and AAG.
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