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Work begins on N5.4b sub-marine optical fibre cable

By Sonny Aragba-Akpore, Wednesday, February 06, 2008

AN initiative destined to affect telecommunication in the African Continent has been hatched. The MainOne Cable project as it is known, is a sub-marine optic fibre cable put at about 15,000 kilometres (km) which will link African nations with their counterparts in the rest of the globe.

The project on which construction has begun starts from Portugal. It is expected to pass through the coastal lines to Africa, linking Cape Town in South Africa to Far East Asia.

The MainOne Cable Project is the baby of Nigerian Private Investors and Multilateral Organisations.

It is the second of such initiatives after the South Atlantic-3 (SAT-3), West African Sub-marine Cable (WASC)/ South Africa Far East (SAFE) route (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) owned by National Operators in 15 African countries and 11 other investors.

The proposed sub-marine cable system, The Guardian learnt, is expected to provide multiple benefit to African nations, including the provision of much more capacity of about 1.28 terabits per second (1.28 tbps) which is 10 times the current bandwidth speed in the market, price reductions in international capacity subscriptions and thus Internet access of over 50 per cent price cut at the onset over current market prices with the potential for further reductions as the cable capacity increases.

It would also aide the provision of communications capacity on a wholesale open access, common carrier, shared infrastructure basis to eligible telecom operators and Internet service providers at uniform tariff rates consistent with best practices in other parts of the world.

The setting up of MainOne Cable, The Guardian learnt, would also encourage local content development via skills transfer of critical networking technologies and job creation with the location of the network operational centre in Nigeria.

It will ease intra-African nations current switching of traffic and save the continent from routing such through Europe. It will provide high-speed capacity for Internet with lower costs and expand Internet access in the sub-Saharan region, which currently stands at less than five per cent.

According to Ms. Funke Opeke, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Main Street Technologies, the project was inspired by the Connect Africa Conference hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Kigali, Rwanda, in October last year where industry players and leaders discussed the imperatives of connecting Africa to the digital age and creating jobs via the deployment of broadband network solutions and empowering ICT technologies.

Main Street Technologies (MST) is a Nigerian firm, promoted by Mr. Fola Adeola, Mr. Asue Ighodalo and Opeke, among others.

The initial capital outlay of MainOne Cable is pegged at $450 million (N5.4 billion) and when completed early next year, its cable link is expected to cut international telecommunications tariffs by over 80 per cent and provide Internet and data bandwidth 10 times what SAT-3 currently offers.

Its target is 1.28 terabits per second (1.28 tbps), a speed that is 10 times what SAT-3 currently offers. Besides these, MainOne deployment of the latest technology called Dense Wave Division Multiplex (DWDM) fibre optic technology will provide an alternative route for African nations and save over $400 million which these national operators and their private sector counterparts pay as traffic fees yearly.

MainOne which will be the second largest optic fibre route in Africa after SAT-3 will cover 15,000 Km initially unlike SAT-3 which covers about 27,000 km, funded at a cost of $600 million and spearheaded by Telkom South Africa.

Main Street Technologies has received funding interests from several Nigerian financial institutions, the African Development Bank (ADB) and some global investment companies towards the $450 million cost of the system.

Opeke told The Guardian at the weekend that MST "is currently working with financial advisers to complete the financing package. "The project has also received offers of support from technology partners such as Cisco Systems and Intel Capital which view the project as a key enabler to technology development in the African and specifically Nigerian market."

The project, which is the largest global private sector initiative, has obtained endorsement from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (WATRA), among others. The commercial launch expected early next year in the first phase will be based on a trunk and branch layout with landing status in Portugal, Morocco, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria (Lagos and Bonny), Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, with interconnection in Portugal leading to other markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

The phase one will also continue a deployment via a 3,000 km extension to Cape Town, South Africa targeted for 2010 in advance of the World Cup Games.

Traditionally, international communications requirements in West Africa have been met by satellite service providers from outside the continent and via SAT-3, a cable system from Portugal to South Africa controlled by the incumbent government-owned telecom operators, launched in 2002. As the market has grown, these options have not adequately met requirements because of performance and cost disadvantages inherent in satellite communications compared to fibre optic systems, and closed control of SAT3 in most countries by government-owned companies.

Main Street has completed a commercial feasibility study for the construction of the MainOne cable system and delivery of international telecommunications services to the nine country markets targeted.

MST also completed the engineering study for the MainOne cable route between Portugal and Cape Town in October 2007. Nigeria will serve as the operational hub for the MainOne network and MST will operate the landing station and network control centre here. The network will interconnect with major telecom operators and ISPs in Lagos initially to deliver wholesale services across the country, and later on in Port Harcourt. In Ghana, Main Street is in talks with the developer of a nationwide fibre optic backbone network linking the major cities for collocation of its landing station and the provision of backbone interconnection services. In addition, Accra is targeted as the host landing for the second leg of the MainOne cable going towards Angola and South Africa.

For Phase 2 countries, Main Street is currently engaged with operators, government officials and regulators to determine strategies for landing and interconnection and will firm up those discussions during the first half of 2008.

Main Street has generated significant enthusiasm for participating in the MainOne cable project from major suppliers in the specialised business of submarine cable systems and is currently awaiting final responses to its Invitation to Tender. MST's objective is to sign the MainOne Construction and Maintenance supply agreement no later than second quarter of 2008 in order to achieve timely implementation.

Events

WATRA SAT3 Workshop, Abuja, Nigeria
SEPTEMBER 11 - 12, 2007

 

AFRICA CONNECT Conference, Rwanda
OCTOBER 29 - 30, 2007

 

ICT Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
FEBRUARY 13 - 15, 2008