Name and Location
Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), East Africa.

Project Description
EASSy is a landmark fibre-optic undersea cable that connects 21 African countries to one another and the rest of the world, with high-quality Internet and international communications services.

The cable, which has a 25-year life, runs 10 000 km from the continent's southern tip to the Horn of Africa, connecting South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. It connects these countries to other multiple submarine cable networks from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.

Another 13 adjoining countries, including Botswana, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are also linked to the system as terrestrial backbone networks are completed through a broader World Bank group initiative.

EASSy has been designed to complement other network systems currently in place.

The cable had an initial design capacity of about 320 Gb/s; however, owing to an increase in demand for international broadband, the capacity was raised to 1,4 Tb/s.

A round of discussions among the investors led to a further increase in design capacity to 3,84 Tb/s. Cable capacity is expected to increase, as demand grows.

Consumers along the East Coast of Africa typically pay between $200/m and $300/m for Internet access. As a result of EASSy, prices for international connectivity will drop by as much as two-thirds, and the number of subscribers will triple.

Further, as the project gives open access to service providers, prices will fall even more as volume and competition increase.

Value
The project came in 10% under the $300-million budgeted.

Duration
Construction on the cable started in December 2007, and began commercial operation in August 2010.

Client
EASSy.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
The International Finance Corporation, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, Germany's Development Bank and the Development Bank of France (loan financing) and the European Union (financing of a special-purpose vehicle that forms part of the cable's operational structure).

The Botswana Telecom Corporation, Telecel Burundi, Onatel Burundi, Djibouti Telecom, Ethiopia Telecommunications Company, Telkom Kenya, Kenya Data Network, Telecom Malagasy, Malawi Telecom, TDM Mozambique, Rwanda Telecom, Dalkom Somalia, Sentech, Telkom South Africa, the Vodacom Group, Sudan Telecom, Canartel, Zanzibar Telecom, TTCL, SatCom Africa Networks, MTN Uganda, Uganda Telecom, BT (UK), Saudi Telecom Company and Teleglobe Canada (memorandum of understanding for the system's development) and Neotel (investor).

Latest Developments
More than 25 telecommunications operators have started offering customer service on the cable, following the launch of EASSy. The launch comes a year after the 1,28-Tb/s Seacom cable, running along the African East Coast, which went live on July 23, 2010.

However, the cable is yet to land in Mogadishu, in Somalia, as initially planned. The delay in the establishment of the landing point in Mogadishu has been prevented by ongoing piracy in the region. Thus, the city will be linked to the cable in a year or two.

In the interim, a fibre link has been set up between Djibouti and Somaliland, north of Somalia, to ensure the country's access to the broadband capacity.

Further down in Southern Africa, the Johannesburg to Durban fibre link backhaul network is largely complete. The EASSy landing point is at Mtunzini, in KwaZulu-Natal. The link is expected to be switched on in either the third or fourth quarter of this year. Work on the Johannesburg to Cape Town link has also started.

The nine cable landing stations include Port Sudan, Djibouti, Mogadishu (Somalia), Mombasa (Kenya), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Moroni (Comoros), Toliary (Madagascar), Maputo (Mozambique) and Mtunzini (South Africa). The stations are either ready or in the final stages of construction.

The installation of the cable, shipped from the Alcatel-Lucent factory, in France, will start with the laying of the shore-end cable in Maputo.

On Budget and on Time?
EASSy had been delayed a number of times owing to controversy but started commercial operations ahead of schedule in July 2010, about 10% below its budgeted $300-million in capital expenditure.

Contact Details for Project Information
EASSy project coordinator John Sihra, tel +255 774 41212, +353 87 259 3966 or email hentelint@eircom.net.