by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI Marine and Pacific Century Cyber Works (PCCW) Global will partner to construct the first submarine cable between Mauritius and Rodrigues Island, in further boost for African internet connectivity.
This will be Huawei’s 12th submarine cable system deployed in the African region to address the increasing demand for connectivity.
The 700km submarine cable has a design capacity of 16 terabit per second (tbit/s).
Huawei Marine will provide the end-to-end solution and deploy the system with a ready for service date in 2019.
When commissioned, the system will cater for increased bandwidth demand of Rodrigues residents and business enterprises over the next 25 years.
Frederick Chui, Senior Vice President of Global Data Sales, PCCW Global, said they were using their experience gained in designing, building, and maintaining submarine cables around the world to assist another service provider, in this case Mauritius Telecom, to commission its own fully-maintained cable investment.
“This completely eliminated any risk in the development, maintenance and operation of what might otherwise have been a technically daunting project,” Chui said.
PCCW Global has agreed with Mauritius Telecom to construct and maintain the high speed submarine cable connecting the Indian Ocean Islands of Rodrigues and Mauritius, which will vastly improve connectivity for Rodrigues.
Mike Constable, Chief Executive of Huawei Marine, said the PCCW Global partnership would revolutionise the broadband infrastructure of Rodrigues by providing a step-change in high-speed internet connectivity and facilitate the growth of digital communications.
“This is the 12th submarine cable system we have deployed in the African region, which reinforces the confidence in our technology and robust network solutions to further enable the transformation of the region’s digital economy,” Constable added.
Located north-east of Mauritius, Rodrigues is a small volcanic island, with its local telecommunications services currently provided by satellite connectivity.
– Guardian
