Integrated system for
West Africa sub-region receives boost
By OLAOLU OLUSINA, Ghana
Monday, August 15, 2005
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The efforts to create an integrated regional system for West
and Central Africa have received a boost as construction work
on a sub-sea system that would bring high-speed connectivity
to the West Africa sub-region takes off very soon.
Stakeholders are now expressing great optimism over a
new project designed to provide an effective alternative to
the regime of high prices and inefficiences that
have characterised the market administration of the infamous
SAT-3, which is currently the only fibre cable servicing sub-Saharan
Africa.Project West Africa, as the proposed project is known,
is the brainchild of Infinity Worldwide Telecommunications
Group of Companies, (IWTGC) an American company.
Its concept was unfolded at the recently held NEPAD’s
e-Africa Commission Conference in Dakar, Senegal.
The project is envisioned as a state-of-the-art fibre-optic,
sub-sea system that would, in its initial phase, run
along the West African coast, from Portugal
to Cameroon, with additional links to Senegal, Liberia,
Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Nigeria. This route
is also being serviced by SAT-3, which already connects
all of these countries, except Liberia.
And the promoters are quite upbeat about the proposed regional
system that would provide an alternative to SAT-3’s
point-to-point system. “Not only will this system provide
direct capacity to the rest of the world but regional
capacity that will include all the West African countries,”
explains Robert Woog, Managing Director and Chief Operating
Officer, of IWTGC.
“We have a different design to SAT-3 in that we will
be bringing cables into each country directly. We
have what we call Branching Units, which allow us to
bring each country in, individually.”
Woog said the vision of his organisation was to bring the
finest telecommunications to Africa, comparable
to the US and Asia.
“With regard to Project West Africa, we want to bring
the latest technology and services to West Africans so
they can compete economically with the rest of the world.
We want to secure the best connectivity in the region
to enable the provision of the best services,” says
Woog. “The physical cable is the predominant aspect
of this project but we also intend to interconnect
into other systems, to extend connectivity and footprint.
We want to serve ISPs, carriers and other service providers,
directly. Therefore, we are more than just a cable provider.”
According to Woog, “We will be bringing huge amounts
of bandwidth to this region through our terrabit design
system, which is similar to brand-new systems across
the Atlantic. The Equip system will ensure at
least 10 gigabits of capacity in each country through a wave-based
approach.”
On the distribution method, which is also crucial to the project,
he said his company was in the process of applying for
licenses in each of the countries, to enable them sell the
capacity directly.
“We are in discussions with each of the regulatory bodies
in every country, but the applications have yet to be
formalised,” said Woog. “You have to understand
that in many of these countries, there isn’t such
a process for something of this nature so we are very
much working in cooperation with the different regulatory bodies,
to help provide information.”
The project, which is already in its final planning
stages, is expected to be operational in the next two years
as construction of the sub-sea cable will take
about eighteen months to complete.
Reacting to the announcement of the proposed project,
Mike Quist Jnr., Regional Managing Director, Accelon, an international
service company and a stakeholder in the industry, says the
project is a step in the right direction, describing it
as a positive development that should be supported by
all.
“It is a positive development and should be
encouraged, but its focus should be expanded.”
The Accelon boss whose company offers satellite footprints
from roughly Senegal, to the Democratic Republic of Congo,
(DRC) also says the prospects for the under-sea
cable system that will link West African countries with Europe
and America are great.
“The prospects are very good. Africa
is coming into its own. From an intra-African perspective,
we are looking at greater integration of all sectors .On a
global basis, we are beginning to see the advantages inherent
in closer cooperation in the areas of economy and security.
All of this, calls for greater and more efficient communications.”
He, however, said the constraints or challenges of
the system will be in its implementation and management.
If it is made a government or quasi-government resource, then
we can expect high prices and inefficiences in its market
administration, as we see in SAT-3.
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