EASSy fibre optic cable lands at Kenya coast

The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) has landed in Mombasa, Kenya – bringing the construction phase of the project closer to completion.
The fibre optic cable, which was brought ashore on Monday (March 22) morning from the cable laying vessel Ile de Sein was connected directly into the landing station at Telkom Kenya’s telephone house.
It is from Telkom Kenya’s telephone house that this third undersea optic cable will interconnect with domestic and international networks.
“We witnessed the landing of both TEAMS and SEACOM cables and though both are operational stakeholders, the public is yet to experience any remarkable changes in the pricing of bandwidth as had been expected,” Samuel Poghisio, Kenya’s Information and Communication Minister said.
A press statement issued from the EASSy headquarters in Mauritius quoted Poghisio as saying that as government, they expect that when EASSy is operational, it will create a competitive environment where bandwidth prices will fall, so that service providers pass the benefit onto users.
Chris Wood, the chief executive of WIOCC, the EASSy investment vehicle said his company was delighted to be partnering with Telkom Kenya in delivering an improved online experience to consumers in Kenya to improve the country’s connectivity across the East African region and the rest of the world.
Wood said that several organizations interested in securing direct international connectivity to key internet exchanges in Europe and the US were already in discussions with WIOCC and its partners.
“We can confidently assure the stakeholders that we will be able to meet such demands in Kenya and other African countries, including landlocked countries,” Wood said. “We are happy with the progress being made on the vital construction phase of EASSy.”
He said the project continues to run as planned, with nearly 70% of the cable now laid in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
“We expect to start testing the system at the end of April 2010, in readiness for the System Ready for Service date on 30th June 2010,” Wood said.
Donald Nyakairu, the chief legal counsel, Uganda Telecom, which is a partner in the EASSy project said the cable would have landed earlier if there had been no internal interference.
“We will pass on the benefits we intended to our customers,” Nyakairu said.
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure said the landing of EASSy was timely, as it will enhance the telecommunications development in Africa, positioning Africa at par with other developed nations.
He said he was optimistic that the internet connection costs would drastically come down, with increased competition in tandem with international trends.
“If this does not happen, then there is a big problem in regulation which must be addressed to ensure fair competition,” Toure said.
In June last year when the SEACOM fibre optic cable went live; followed later by the TEAMS cable, internet users expected a drop in prices, not to mention the super speeds that were promised, but this largely has not been the case.
Internet service prices have remained more or less the same while the speeds and efficiency have barely improved.
The director general of Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), Mr. Charles Njoroge, who was present, said that he believed that the industry would self regulate, with the consumer demand and market forces determining the price.
He however was quick to add that the commission will keenly keep an eye to ensure a level playing field, where the user will be the end benefactor.
WIOCC is the largest investor in EASSy with 30% shareholding.
WIOCC is owned by Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, DALKOM Somalia, Djibouti Telecom, Gilat Satcom Nigeria Ltd, the Government of Seychelles and the Lesotho Telecommunications Authority.
Others are ONATEL Burundi, Telkom Kenya, TDM Mozambique, U-COM Burundi, Uganda Telecom Ltd and Zantel Tanzania.
Wood said that upon commissioning, EASSy will have the highest capacity of all submarine cable systems along the east coast of Africa, with a 1.4Tbps, 2 fiber-pair configuration.
Mombasa is the fifth landing for the cable, having already landed in Sudan, Djibouti, Mozambique and South Africa.
Of the 10,000 kilometres, 4,000 kilometres of cable have been laid. Two ships are laying the cable, one going south from the Red Sea while the other is going north from South Africa.