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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 first time. The long-awaited EASSy cable
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, depending
on how smoothly deployment proceeds
(Table 1).
Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for
just 0.2 per cent of total global international
bandwidth (Table 2), a share that has remained
stable since at least 2004. Extended
connectivity through submarine cables
promises to change this, however, with a total capacity
of 15.7 Terabits per second planned by mid-2012.
This imminent explosion in cable capacity heralds a
new era of connectivity for the continent, promising
greater international Internet bandwidth, faster
Internet access, more reliable connectivity, access to
new and advanced services and, potentially, a reduction
in prices for communication services.
The investments being made in these cables signify
something far more profound than just added
bandwidth — they represent renewed confidence
and optimism in Africa’s digital future. Complex investment
consortia have been put in place to fund
the roll-out of these submarine cables. The investments
are large and the time horizons long, but
the prospects for strong future growth are very
promising.
Regional shares of international bandwidth have
remained relatively stable since at least 2004. Today,
Europe and the Americas still account for the lion’s
share, at around 87 per cent of total global international
Internet bandwidth (Table 2). Using the measure
of international bandwidth per Internet user,
someone living in the Americas had access to nearly
ten times the amount of international bandwidth as
an Internet user living in Africa, while an Internet user
living in Europe had access to nearly forty times as
much as an African Internet user.
Africa has one of the fastest annualized growth
rates in total international bandwidth (82.3 per cent).
But from 2005 to 2009, Europe’s growth in total international
bandwidth per Internet user (46.3 per
cent) has nearly kept pace with Africa’s rate of
growth (52.1 per cent), even though Europe enjoys
much higher absolute levels of bandwidth. The added
capacity in international Internet bandwidth set to
come into service through the submarine cable system
could significantly boost Africa’s regional share
of international Internet bandwidth.
This explosion in international connectivity for
Africa is providing fresh impetus for driving investment
in domestic backbone networks and local
connectivity. Investments in international connectivity
need to be matched by investments in domestic
backbone infrastructure. Of 49 sub-Saharan African
countries, 32 now have their capital cities connected
to international fibre networks, and many of these
countries have either completed a backbone to connect
their major cities or have plans to do so by
2012. ITU continues to monitor Africa’s connectivity
through the goals established at the Connect Africa
Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 2007.
Assessments to date demonstrate tangible progress
in the expansion of domestic backbone networks.
Price reductions do not follow automatically
from the landing of new submarine cables.
Experience suggests that countries with incumbent
monopolies or with only one international landing
station are less likely to see competitive price reductions
for international bandwidth than those with
two or more landing stations controlled by competing
organizations.
For example, following Angola’s connection to
the SAT-3/WASC service in 2002, Angola Telecom reduced
the cost of wholesale bandwidth on the fibre
route twice — once by 20 per cent (from around USD
20 000 per Mbit/s per month duplex to Portugal, to
around USD 16 000) in June 2005, and subsequently
by a further 10 per cent (to around USD 14 000) in
October 2006. In Ghana, connection to the SAT-3/
WASC cable brought about some decreases in the
cost of international connectivity, although prices still
remained relatively high.
In contrast, Kenya’s connection to TEAMS and
SEACOM in 2009 saw prices fall from around USD
1900 per Mbit/s per month in 2009 to levels of
around USD 600 per Mbit/s per month, with further
price falls expected. In Cameroon, the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC) report on open
access communications infrastructure notes that the
SAT-WASC cable has had a number of positive effects
on competition in the telecommunication sector as a
whole, helping drive down prices and stimulate the
introduction of new products and services.
Where prices fall, corresponding growth in demand
often follows on fairly rapidly. For example,
demand for international telecommunications and
data connectivity is projected to grow by a factor of
ten over the next five years for Kenya, according to
the Communications Commission of Kenya. If greater
international connectivity is linked with reductions in
prices for communication services, much of Africa is
likely to show similar growth in demand.
The growth of the information society in Africa
and elsewhere is not just about the installation of
greater bandwidth and international connectivity.
For the inhabitants of any continent to reap the full
rewards of greater international connectivity, it is essential
that the installation of greater capacity is accompanied
by policy measures to put in place and
sustain an enabling environment, so the benefits can
be fully realized. For then we shall see the dawn of a
new era in a truly global information society of available
and affordable Internet access for all.
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