Coverage map, January 2013
Submarine cable operator Seacom was aiming to roll out a new 2 500 km undersea cable connecting the coast of KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern and Western Cape.
The group, which aimed to launch the $80-million to $100-million South African Marine System (Sams) by the fourth quarter of next year, believed the link was the missing piece closing the submarine cable ring from East to West Africa.
The proposed three-pair fibre cable would extend from Mtunzini to Yzerfontein, with a one-pair fibre branching out to Port Elizabeth or East London, in the Eastern Cape.
"It is a natural extension of the Seacom cable," said Seacom CEO Mark Simpson.
He said that Seacom was currently reviewing five bidders for the marine seabed survey and the cable build.
The survey and an environmental-impact assessment, which were expected to start within the next few weeks, would be complete within three to six months.
Seacom, which was seeking diversity within its portfolio, said the Sams cable would be operated at lower cost and higher efficiency than other terrestrial routes.
Simpson told Engineering News Online on the sidelines of the Satcom conference, in Johannesburg, that the project would be undertaken under a key anchor tenant model and based on the percentage of spectrum required by each partner.
Seacom was in talks with a number of potential coinvesters and partners for the rollout of the project, which was subject to final configuration.