Project Browser
By: Matthew Hill
8th August 2008
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Provision had been made for the cable to connect every coastal and island country in the continent, special adviser to the Nepad secretariat CE Dr Genezi Mgidlana stated.
The project would be developed by a company called Baharicom, while the terrestrial segment of the broadband network had been named Umojanet.
The submarine cable would connect the African continent with Europe, Brazil, India and the Middle East.
Mgidlana said in a speech in Johannesburg that the cable, called Uhurunet, was still expected to reach completion in 2010.
He did not say when the Umojanet portion was likely to be completed.
A lack of infrastructure and high telecommunications costs have led to a drive in laying cables connecting African countries to each other, as well as the rest of the world.
Other cable projects on the cards for the continent include the Seacom project, the proposed $500-million African West Coast Cable, and the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System.
Edited by: Mariaan Webb
