Main One Cable ready for business
By Ego Alajemba, Lagos
Main One Cable Company appears set for business this month with the
completion of the sea cable connectivity from Portugal across West
Africa and terminating in Lagos.
The Nigerian company and its system supplier, Tyco Electronics
Subsea Communications (SubCom), have “announced that following the
on schedule completion of the main lay program by the C.S. Tyco
Resolute, the final cable splice, the marine installation programme
for Phase 1 of the Main One Cable System has been completed on
schedule.”
The Main One marine cable joins Glo-1 cable (owned by Globacom) in
an expansive rollout of connectivity scheme that could see Africa
relying less on satellite connectivity.
“Installation of terminal equipment is complete in Seixal, Portugal
and underway at the system’s landing sites in Lagos, Nigeria and
Accra, Ghana. The system is expected to be ready for service in June
2010,” said the company in official release.
Phase 1 of the Main One Cable System spans 6,800 kilometers. It will
provide much needed capacity between the West Coast of Africa and
Portugal. The dual fiber pair, 1.92 Terabit per second, Dense Wave
Division Multiplex project will first connect Lagos, Nigeria; Accra,
Ghana and Seixal, Portugal with onward connectivity to Europe, Asia
and the Americas.
Phase 2 of the project is expected to extend to South Africa.
The Main One Cable System will provide open access to regional
telecom operators and Internet Service Providers at rates lower than
existing international bandwidth prices in the region. The system
will provide broadband capacity to expand Internet access in the
sub-Saharan region, as well as ease the difficulties of switching
traffic between African countries without the need to go through
Europe.
“We are thrilled to say that the challenge of completing the marine
work for the Main One Cable System is behind us and that we will
soon be able to concentrate on the critical mission of providing
high-capacity bandwidth to regions of the globe where it is long
overdue,” said Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company. “Together
with SubCom, we have met our goals on schedule and we eagerly look
towards delivering capacity to our customers and executing plans for
expansion of the network.”
“Since the launch of our alliance in 2008, SubCom has looked forward
to completing the Phase 1 marine installation. Completion of the
marine program brings us very close to making the Main One Cable
System a reality,” said David Coughlan, president of SubCom. “We
consider the work we have done on Main One to be a significant
accomplishment and are proud to be associated with this project.”.
