Africa is set to receive a significant broadband boost with  France Telecom (FT)  signing a construction agreement with Alcatel-Lucent for the new Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable.  The vendor said its share of the 17,000km fibre-optic link is worth USD500 million and will connect West African countries to the global broadband network.  The ACE consortium is a newly formed group of 20 telecom operators. The ACE cable relies on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). With WDM, cable capacity can be increased without additional submarine work.

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Source: TeleGeography

Nigerian operator, Globacom has obtained an operating licence in Cote d'Ivoire. The approval was conveyed to Globacom by the Agence des Telecommunications de Cote d'Ivoire, the telecommunications regulatory authorities of the Francophone country.

The licence will enable Globacom take advantage of its gigantic trans-Atlantic submarine cable, Glo 1, which will branch off to Cote d'Ivoire.  With it, Glo will provide international carrier services for telecoms operators in Cote d'Ivoire, aggregate and carry voice and data traffic into and out of the country. Globacom is in Nigeria and Benin Republic as well as Ghana where it is geared to commercially launch its operations very soon. The telecoms giant is also in the process of securing more licences across the continent.

See Press Release
Source: Balancingact Africa

Côte d’Ivoire proved itself as a potential hub, routing neighbouring countries’ traffic when a submarine fibre cable in Benin was damaged recently. However, what might have been a bright future, is now looking glum as Côte d’Ivoire’s Government has introduced a new tax that applies to all international incoming voice traffic. This includes direct traffic as well as transit traffic and roaming calls.

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Source Balancing Act

The 8^th Global Symposium for Regulators took place from 11 to 13 March 2008 in Pattaya, Thailand. This major ITU event focused on best practices in regulatory measures to foster and encourage sharing of infrastructure resources as a means of stimulating investment and growth in the ICT sector.

Ten discussion papers were developed for this year's GSR:

1. What do we mean by 6 Degrees of Sharing?
2. Extending Open Access to National Fibre Backbones in Developing Countries
3. International Gateway Liberalization: the Singapore experience
4. Breaking Up is Hard to Do: The Emergence of Functional Separation as a Regulatory Remedy
5. Mobile Sharing
6. Spectrum Sharing
7. WRC-07 Results and Impact on Terrestrial Broadband Wireless Access Systems
8. End-User Sharing
9. International Mobile Roaming Regulation – An Incentive for Cooperation
10. IPTV and Mobile TV: New Challenges for Regulators

Comments are welcome by 13 April 2008 at: gsr08@itu.int.   

More information on the event as well as the presentations from the panel sessions can be found at the GSR 2008 website.

See: Press release 

Source: ITU

Nairobi, November 26, 2007—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Germany’s development bank (KfW), and the development bank of France (AFD) have signed agreements to invest in the East African Submarine Cable System, a landmark fiber-optic cable project that will connect 21 African countries to each other and the rest of the world with high-quality Internet and international communications services. The cable will transform the telecommunications landscape in the region as it improves access for 250 million Africans and substantially reduces costs for consumers and businesses. Construction will begin in mid-December, and the cable, known as EASSy, is expected to be fully operational in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. The cable will run 10,000 kilometers from the continent’s southern tip to the African horn, connecting South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, and Sudan. Another 13 adjoining countries will also be linked to the system as terrestrial backbone networks are completed through a broader World Bank Group initiative: these include Botswana, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

A short video (available in both English and French) on IFC and the World Bank’s efforts to connect East Africa can be found on www.worldbank.org/rcip/video.

A map showing the gap that the East African Submarine Cable System is filling can be downloaded at http://go.worldbank.org/GKHOFFDJB0.  Use of the map is free of charge.

See Press Release
Source: EASSY
 

Ministers responsible for information and communication technologies (ICTs) from Eastern and Southern African countries meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 15 endorsed a $2bn submarine cable project to connect Africa, and called for its speedy implementation. This was announced at a press conference after the meeting.

The 50,000 km cable with a capacity of 3.84 Terrabits/sec is designed to provide telecommunications connectivity to Africa and connect the continent to the Americas, India, and Europe.

It is expected that completion of this project will greatly contribute to reduction of telecommunications costs that have been a hindrance to doing business in Africa.

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Source: E-Africa Commission

Shortly after the Arab Submarine Cable Company had signed a contract for the roll-out, operation and lease of a submarine cable network and an infrastructure for international telecommunications, a consortium headed by Orascom Telecom signed another contract for the rollout, operation and lease of a submarine cable network and an infrastructure for international telecommunications. It will connect Asia and Europe.

See Press Release

Source : NTRA

 

Orascom Telecom will bid for Egypt's second fixed line telephony licence, which the government plans to sell next year. Minister of Communications Tarek Kamel said in late June that Egypt would offer a licence to operate a second fixed line network, ending years of monopoly by state-dominated Telecom Egypt. Orascom also received a licence on Sunday to build a submarine network for international phone calls.

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Source: Telegeography

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has declared a protection zone over a submarine telecommunications cable of national significance off Perth, Western Australia. The protection zone will take effect on 1 February 2008.

The SEA-ME-WE3 cable is nationally significant as it is a high capacity cable linking Australia to global communications systems and is vital to the national interest.

Activities that could damage the SEA-ME-WE3 cable are restricted or prohibited within the protection zone, and significant criminal penalties apply for breaches of the legislation. Full press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

Activities that could damage submarine communications cables will be prohibited or restricted in protection zones off the Sydney beaches Narrabeen and Tamarama/Clovelly from 1 October 2007, following their declaration by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Prohibited activities include trawling and dredging. Other activities are restricted according to their potential risk of damaging a cable, for example, restriction on anchoring depends on distance from shore, water depth, anchor weight and anchor line breaking strain. Marine users should be aware that significant criminal penalties apply to those engaging in prohibited or restricted activities. Full press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

The Namibian government has announced that it will enter a new round of discussions with Botswana and Angola to secure a landing point for Namibia on the SAT-3 international submarine cable. The three countries have had four rounds of discussions on the issue since July last year. Both Namibia and Botswana both proposed an alternative international broadband connectivity route to SAT-3 to address the high costs of communications in the respective countries. ‘The transit costs to route telecommunication calls through Cape Town to the SAT-3 have become unsustainable,’ Namibia’s acting Permanent Secretary of Information, Wilma Deetlefs, said in a statement yesterday. Full Press release

Source: Telegeography

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is considering widening proposed protection zones for two submarine cables off the New South Wales coast. As part of its consultation process, ACMA has been made aware of likely industry plans for new high capacity submarine cables into Sydney and is proposing to widen the zones in deeper waters beyond nine nautical miles off shore. ACMA is inviting public submissions about its variation. ‘Widening the proposed protection zones in deeper water will better allow for future cables to be co-located within the protection zones,’ said Chris Cheah, full time ACMA member and Chairman of its NSW Protection Zone Advisory Committee. The two proposed protection zones are: The Northern Protection Zone extending from Narrabeen beach to 40 nautical miles offshore, covering the northern branches of the Australia Japan Cable and the Southern Cross Cable and the area between those cables; and The Southern Protection Zone extending from Tamarama and Clovelly beaches and extending 30 nautical miles offshore, covering the southern branches of the Australia Japan Cable and the Southern Cross Cable and the area between those cables. ‘Having undertaken some preliminary consultation, we believe that enlarging each protection zone to include the area between the existing cable branches is unlikely to impact on many marine users,’ Mr Cheah said. ‘Nonetheless, ACMA is keen to test this view and consult with all parties about the revised proposals. All views will be considered before ACMA finally declares the protection zones.’ Source: ACMA, Australia

Venezuelan state-owned telco CVG Telecom has signed an agreement to install a submarine fibre-optic cable linking the country with Cuba, reports BNamericas quoting Cuban daily Juventud Rebelde. The project aims to connect La Guaira, in the Vargas state of Venezuela, to Siboney in the province of Santiago de Cuba. Feasibility studies, including the possibility of connecting the network to other countries, are scheduled for completion by 31 March. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms notes that in November 2006 CVG Telecom lit a 320km fibre-optic cable link connecting Venezuela and Colombia.

Source: Telegeography

Kenya has entered into partnership with global telecommunications service provider Etisalat to lay the proposed $110 million (Sh7.9 billion) undersea fibre optic cable, popularly known as The East African Marine Systems (Teams). The cable will connect east and horn of Africa countries to the rest of the world is expected to drastically reduce the cost of telecommunications. It will also offer high quality broadband connections that will enable the region’s industries and business to be competitive in the global economy.

Telkom Kenya has signed a memorandum of understanding with Etisalat of United Arab Emirates to lay, operate and maintain the cable, which will connect Mombasa and Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman. Managing director, Mr Sammy Kirui signed the agreement on behalf of Kenya. Information and Communications minister, Mr Mutahi Kagwe, Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Director General of Communications Commission of Kenya Mr John Waweru witnessed the signing in Dubai last Wednesday.

"The two parties are committed to run an aggressive race to enable the cable will be ready for service by November next year. The construction and supply contract will be awarded early next year," a statement from the Information and Communications ministry released yesterday said.

Kenya was among the 16 countries that declined to sign the East African Submarine Cable System, also known as Eassy special vehicle protocol mid this year. Kenya was not happy with the fact that Nepad was taking over ownership of the project. Meanwhile, Kagwe said yesterday the government was only aware of two shareholders in Safaricom.He did not however rule out the fact that other parties, through an internal arrangement, could be holding five per cent of the Vodafone shares. According to a local weekly, Mobitelea Ventures Ltd, said to be associated with prominent figures in the regime of former President Moi, could still hold as much as five per cent of Safaricom.

Source: The East African Standard, Kenya 

India’s Reliance Communications has inaugurated the 2.56TB Falcon submarine cable system, connecting India's financial hub Mumbai to eleven countries in the Middle East. The 11,859km system reaches Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, amongst others, and is part of Reliance’s Flag Telecom Global Network, which has cables running through 35 countries spanning four continents. The company says Falcon will provide cheaper bandwidth to retail and commercial users in all eleven countries.

Meanwhile, India’s state run telcos Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), have revealed plans to build a submarine cable system connecting India to Singapore and Malaysia, and to West Asia, the US and Europe. The proposed cables would be laid by Millennium Telecom, a 51/49 joint venture between MTNL and BSNL. The finer details of the USD400 million project are still being negotiated. BSNL launched an undersea cable link to Sri Lanka in June.

Source: Telegeography

The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) project suffered a setback yesterday when less than a third of the participants signed an agreement to oversee the running of the system, reports South Africa's Business Day. Seven out of 23 countries signed the accord for the long-delayed international fibre-optic network, which aims to lower telephony and internet costs across the region. The project has been held back by squabbles over ownership rights, mainly between Kenya and South Africa, as well as the price of access to the 9,900km cable, which will stretch between Durban and Port Sudan. Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda signed the agreement, whilst other countries, including Kenya, said they needed more time to study details of the scheme. It was hoped that construction would start this month, with commercial services to be launched in the first quarter of 2008. Ministers meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali yesterday extended the deadline for signing the accord by three months to gain backing from more countries. ‘This is not a setback,’ said Lesotho Communications Minister Thomas Thabane, ‘It is a mere challenge for us to convince others to come aboard.

Source: Telegeography

Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) has announced that it has joined a consortium that will build an undersea cable link between southeast Asia and the US, saying the project would help ‘satisfy the need for more bandwidth speed of Filipino internet users,’ among others. The consortium includes PLDT, AiTi of Brunei Darussalam, CAT Telecom (Thailand), REACH (Hong Kong), StarHub (Singapore), Telekom Malaysia (Malaysia) and VNPT (Vietnam). The system, to be called the Asia-America Gateway, will link Malaysia and the US via Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii, with branches into Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam. Source: TeleGeography.

 

Bangladesh launched its first undersea fiber-optic cable Sunday, allowing high-speed telecommunications that could enhance its information technology sector. (…) The cable network - covering 1,265 kilometers - will provide a fiber-optic link with a data-transfer capacity of 10 gigabytes per second, compared to the 150-megabyte bandwidth now used by the state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board and dozens of private Internet service providers. (…)

Source: Dow Jones International News.