Seacom talks up South Atlantic cable
Submarine cable operator Seacom is confident of the prospect of a South Atlantic cable crossing, despite the economic and geographical challenges.
In an interview with BusinessTech, Seacom CEO, Mark Simpson noted that a number of parties were in discussion about building a cable systems across the South Atlantic.
This included local company, eFive, through its $280-million South Atlantic Express (SAEx) cable system, which has set a start date in 2014.
The group is still in discussions over financing, with Rosalind Thomas, chief executive officer of eFive stating that she expected financial closure in June 2013.
WASACE Cable Company Worldwide Holding also has plans to link four continents including the development of new routes from Africa to Latin America and the US. This project is being managed by US-based David Ross Group.
Landing points would include South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Brazil, the US and Spain. WASACE said that the Africa cable systems was scheduled to be in service by the first quarter of 2014.
Also in the pipeline, is a 34,000-km long BRICS cable linking its five members: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Promoter of the cable, i3 Africa says the cable would cost an estimated $1.5 billion.
A 6,000-kilometre cable from South America to Africa is also being discussed by Brazil’s state-run teleco Telebras in conjunction with Angola Cables.
“So obviously we are in discussions with them about how we connect them, and what we might do in that regard,” Simpson said.
“Anywhere you go in the world, as soon as you’ve got four or five guys talking about it, one will probably get built. So I am assuming that at least one will get built,” he said.
Seacom in Africa
Simpson said that for 2013, Seacom would continue to focus on Africa, on the Southern and Eastern markets.
He pointed to major landing countries including Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, and Djibouti, while the group also expected to focus on countries including Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
“We already do some work there, but we are going to look more aggressively at how we do that, extending points of presence (PoP), and products, rather than just selling services,” Simpson said.
Seacom would also push up through Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Etheopia, and South Sudan.
“In a number of those markets, we already do some work, but we’d like to go deeper. Uganda, is probably the most obvious one we would…PoP,” Simpson said of the landlocked country.
“The focus still remains as a carrier provider, a service provider. We are still in the wholesale business, we are not looking at retail. What we continue to look at is how we push the network inland,” he said.
More on Seacom and subsea cables
WASACE Africa cable set for operation in 2014
Race on to build new SA subsea cable
SAEx sets sights on 2014 build
Let my people go (online): Convergence Partners
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