Bharti, 15 telcos launch submarine cable system in Africa

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Bharti Airtel along with 15 other global telcos announced the launch of the The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy).

EASSy cable system, a 10,000 km cable, has a capacity of 1.4 terabits per second, making it the largest submarine cable system serving the African continent.

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The cable, at $263 million investment, will be the first East coast system to connect a direct route to Europe thereby connecting  Europe and North America. It connects Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan (Sudan) with landing points in nine countries.

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 consortium comprises of 16 telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, British Telecom, Etisalat, Saudi Telecom, MTN International Group, Telkom South Africa etc.

EASSy landing stations include Port Sudan, Djibouti, Mombasa, Dar-easalaam, Moroni in Comoros Islands, Toliary in Madagaskar, Maputo in Mozambique and Mtuzini in South Africa.