SEACOM lands an anchor tenant
March 20, 2009
Written by kenyanobserver, in BUSINESS, Featured
SEACOM, the Fiber-Optic Under-Sea cable system, currently under construction and majority owned by governments along the East and Southern coasts of Africa, has landed an anchor tenant.
SEACOM Central Control Station construction in Mombasa. Photo: seacom.mu
Tata Communications, the Indian telecom giant, announced Thursday that it has become a SEACOM anchor tenant customer. Tata will use the SEACOM infrastructure to extend it’s global integrated network services to East and Southern Africa.
This is a big deal because an anchor tenant usually provides momentum, high visibility and credibility for any project be it a shopping center, a shopping mall or a housing development.
SEACOM network map. Source - seacom.mu
Work on the under-sea high capacity fiber-optic cable is expected to be completed by June 2009. When it goes live, residents of countries on the Eastern coast of Africa can expect to be truly connected to the rest of the world with true broadband speeds which should be available at much lower rates; some regions reportedly likely to see rate reductions of up to 70%. Before fiber-optic cable, most of Africa had to rely on antiquated, expensive satellite systems to connect to the internet backbone.