Regional focus Africa’s new submarine cables

Africa’s new submarine cables Submarine cable connectivity in Africa on the rise

The year 2010 marks a special year for Africa. It is the year in which an unprecedented number of submarine cables went live for the fi rst time. The long-awaited EASSy ca- ble went live on 16 July 2010, while Main One launched barely a week afterwards. The third quarter of 2010 is expected to see the launch of Glo One, the fourth quarter the go-live of the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION) off the East coast, while the West African Cable System (WACS) cable should be launched either this year or in 2011, de- pending on how smoothly deployment pro- ceeds (Table 1). Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for just 0.2 per cent of total global international bandwidth (Table 2), a share that has re- mained stable since at least 2004. Extended connectivity through submarine cables promises to change this, however, with a total capac- the prospects for strong future growth are very ity of 15.7 Terabits per second planned by mid-2012. promising. This imminent explosion in cable capacity heralds a Regional shares of international bandwidth have new era of connectivity for the continent, promis- remained relatively stable since at least 2004. Today, ing greater international Internet bandwidth, faster Europe and the Americas still account for the lion’s Internet access, more reliable connectivity, access to share, at around 87 per cent of total global interna- new and advanced services and, potentially, a reduc- tional Internet bandwidth (Table 2). Using the meas- tion in prices for communication services. ure of international bandwidth per Internet user, The investments being made in these cables sig- someone living in the Americas had access to nearly nify something far more profound than just added ten times the amount of international bandwidth as bandwidth — they represent renewed confi dence an Internet user living in Africa, while an Internet user and optimism in Africa’s digital future. Complex in- living in Europe had access to nearly forty times as vestment consortia have been put in place to fund much as an African Internet user. the roll-out of these submarine cables. The invest- Africa has one of the fastest annualized growth ments are large and the time horizons long, but rates in total international bandwidth (82.3 per cent).

38 ITU News  8 | 2010  October 2010 Africa’s new submarine cables Regional focus

But from 2005 to 2009, Europe’s growth in total in- countries, 32 now have their capital cities connected ternational bandwidth per Internet user (46.3 per to international fi bre networks, and many of these cent) has nearly kept pace with Africa’s rate of countries have either completed a backbone to con- growth (52.1 per cent), even though Europe enjoys nect their major cities or have plans to do so by much higher absolute levels of bandwidth. The add- 2012. ITU continues to monitor Africa’s connectivity ed capacity in international Internet bandwidth set to through the goals established at the Connect Africa come into service through the submarine cable sys- Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 2007. tem could signifi cantly boost Africa’s regional share Assessments to date demonstrate tangible progress of international Internet bandwidth. in the expansion of domestic backbone networks. This explosion in international connectivity for Price reductions do not follow automati- Africa is providing fresh impetus for driving invest- cally from the landing of new submarine cables. ment in domestic backbone networks and local Experience suggests that countries with incumbent connectivity. Investments in international connectiv- monopolies or with only one international landing ity need to be matched by investments in domestic station are less likely to see competitive price reduc- backbone infrastructure. Of 49 sub-Saharan African tions for international bandwidth than those with

Table 1 — Summary statistics for African submarine cable systems (see map of cables)

Cable Target date Maximum capacity Length East Coast Seacom In operation since 1.2 Tbit/s 13 000 km 23/7/2009 TEAMS In operation 1.2 Tbit/s 5000 km EASSy Went live on 16 July 2010 1.4 Tbit/s 10 500 km (excluding Comoros Islands) LION Went live in the fourth —— quarter in 2009 in the Réunion; and should go live in November 2010 elsewhere West Coast SAT-3/WASC — Nigeria 2001 340 Gbit/s — Glo One (Nigeria planned) Third quarter, 2010 2.5 Tbit/s 9500 km Main One — Nigeria Launched on 22 July 2010 2 Tbit/s 14 000 km WACS — Nigeria planned 2010/2011 5.1 Tbit/s — ACE — Nigeria planned Second quarter, 2012 1.97 Tbit/s 17 000 km Total (East and West coasts combined) 15.71 Tbit/s Source: ITU. Note: — indicates that information is not readily available.

ITU News  8 | 2010  October 2010 39 Regional focus Africa’s new submarine cables

two or more landing stations controlled by compet- whole, helping drive down prices and stimulate the ing organizations. introduction of new products and services. For example, following Angola’s connection to Where prices fall, corresponding growth in de- the SAT-3/WASC service in 2002, Angola Telecom re- mand often follows on fairly rapidly. For example, duced the cost of wholesale bandwidth on the fi bre demand for international telecommunications and route twice — once by 20 per cent (from around USD data connectivity is projected to grow by a factor of 20 000 per Mbit/s per month duplex to Portugal, to ten over the next fi ve years for Kenya, according to around USD 16 000) in June 2005, and subsequently the Communications Commission of Kenya. If greater by a further 10 per cent (to around USD 14 000) in international connectivity is linked with reductions in October 2006. In Ghana, connection to the SAT-3/ prices for communication services, much of Africa is WASC cable brought about some decreases in the likely to show similar growth in demand. cost of international connectivity, although prices still The growth of the information society in Africa remained relatively high. and elsewhere is not just about the installation of In contrast, Kenya’s connection to TEAMS and greater bandwidth and international connectivity. SEACOM in 2009 saw prices fall from around USD For the inhabitants of any continent to reap the full 1900 per Mbit/s per month in 2009 to levels of rewards of greater international connectivity, it is es- around USD 600 per Mbit/s per month, with further sential that the installation of greater capacity is ac- price falls expected. In Cameroon, the Association for companied by policy measures to put in place and Progressive Communications (APC) report on open sustain an enabling environment, so the benefi ts can access communications infrastructure notes that the be fully realized. For then we shall see the dawn of a SAT-WASC cable has had a number of positive effects new era in a truly global information society of avail- on competition in the telecommunication sector as a able and affordable Internet access for all.

Table 2 — Distribution of international Internet bandwidth across regions, 2009

International % of world CAGR* (%) Bits/s per Internet user CAGR* (%) bandwidth 2005–2009 2005–2009 2009 2005 2009 Africa 38 535.9 0.2% 82.3 222.7 1191.6 52.1 Americas 4 889 491.0 20.7% 45.5 2871.2 11 809.4 28.1 Arab States 324 575.3 1.4% 98.9 802.5 5376.2 60.9 Asia-Pacifi c 2 504 479.1 10.6% 60.3 952.9 3543.1 28.6 Europe 15 676 560.0 66.4% 56.4 9494.8 44 259.5 46.3 CIS** 176 167.0 0.7% 79.6 571.8 2756.1 48.2 Total 23 609 808.3 56.3 4226.8 14 469.7 33.6 *CAGR Compound annual growth rate **CIS Commonwealth of Independent States Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.

40 ITU News  8 | 2010  October 2010