The telecoms cable will be the first to reach Africa’s eastern shores, linking southern and east African countries to Europe and Asia.
Yesterday Seacom president Brian Herlihy said it was on track to go live in June next year.
That reassurance came as analysts at BMI-TechKnowledge cast doubt this week on whether an ambitious $1,4bn undersea cable project backed by more than a dozen African governments would ever materialise.
Herlihy said demand for new cables around the world had resulted in delays for other projects, but Seacom would be able to meet Africa’s urgent need for cheap and readily available bandwidth in less than a year.
So far 10000km of Seacom’s cable has been manufactured in the US and Japan and should be loaded in September. It will be buried under the ocean bed with the help of a plough along the route chosen after a survey.
Cables will also be laid at the on-shore landing stations from September in shallow depths where ships do not operate.
The final splicing to connect all cable sections together will happen in April.
Herlihy said Seacom was aiming to have its bandwidth available to broadcasters in SA in time for the Confederations Cup in June.
Source: Business Day
