Tuesday, February 9, 2010 21:31

Countries where the submarine cables have been laid. Photo: SUB-SAHARA AFRICAN UNDERSEAS CABLES..

Submarine cables suffer setbacks

By Ejiro Gegere

Anxiety is rising over promises made by telecoms operators in Nigeria to launch submarine cables, which are expected to correct the communication glitches being currently experienced under the Sat-3 technology.

None of the service providers have delivered on their promise to lay the cables in Nigeria.

NEXT gathered for instance that Globacom’s Glo-1 submarine cable, expected to have become operational early this year has run into technical hitches. The launch date has already been shifted twice from March to May and now take-off is scheduled for November.

Mohammed Jameel, Globacom’s chief operating officer, said the Glo-1 Submarine cable project was first publicised in Accra, Ghana in July, 2008.

The cable is actually part of the “one network” technology devised by telecoms operators to ease communication worldwide without having to change network sims each time one travelled to a different country.

In other words, the cable is expected to connect Africa with Europe and America, through enhanced telecoms and broadband services, which are expected to crash consumer bills, and make communication affordable and efficient to individuals and corporations.

So far, unconfirmed reports say the cable has been laid in the United Kingdom, through Portugal to Ghana. By projection, it is to pass through various cities such as Bude, UK; New York, USA; Vigo, Spain; Sesimbra, Portugal; Casablanca, Morocco; Nouakchott, Mauritania; Dakar, Senegal; Accra, Ghana; before reaching Lagos, in Nigeria.

Expectations vs challenges

While Globacom is hopeful that the cable would arrive in Nigeria before the end of the third quarter of the year, experts are however, sceptical in view of the challenges facing the project.

“If they are facing any setbacks, it will put us back in the same position we are now. For the purpose of redundancy, there is a need for back up cables,” says Lanre Ajayi, President of Internet Group in Nigeria, in a telephone interview with NEXT.

He said operators were “anxious to have an alternative to SAT-3.” So we can only wish Globacom good luck to give Nigerians and Africa an alternative link to the international community,” he added.

Back

Dear reader.
While we value your feedback we have to moderate them, so your comments would appear in a maximum of one hour. Please feel free to return and read through again after another user may have replied to what you have said.
Please note that 234NEXT.com bears no responsibility for what readers post, and is not liable for any form of impersonation.

Reader Comments (4)

Posted by Christopher on Aug 18 2009

Main one says its own cable is due by June next year. Whatever happens, all this wahala with the internet should be over by the middle of next year.

Posted by Jo Benson on Aug 18 2009

You're talking of one telecom operator (Globacom) as if there are several operators making promises of undersea cable landing. I think you should be more factual in your reports and analysis so that your readers are not misled. Glo first promised to deliver its submarine cable sometime in 2008. It shifted to March 2009 and then June 2009 and again, August 2009. And perhaps now November 2009? MainOne is not a telecom operator. It obtained an infrastructure licence from the NCC and Ghana Communications Authority (GCA), to land submarine cables. I have followed this project in the press and know that they have maintained June 2010 date for delivering on their submarine cable project.

Posted by Korede on Aug 18 2009

The project is a good one, a panacea to Nigeria's phone and internet nightmares. It sure would be a success, we only need to be more patient as this is the first of its kind here in nigeria, so currently we lack the expertise and skills to fully implement and deploy this project, and that is why glo keep facing hiccups there and then. Let us all learn to appreciate what these people are doing. There are so many other companies who could afford this project but wouldn't do it because of thier own selfish interest....like MTN wouldn't do it because it is not indigenously Nigerian, and besides, d profits they make from sat connection will be far more than that of broadband as people will now move on to IP-phones instead of these bloody expensive mobiles we're using. Wishing Glo good luck and all the best!

Posted by Prof. Hindu on Aug 19 2009

"One Network TECHNOLOGY?" Again? Please leave this issue, which one concern sim card swapping with bandwidth, much less undersea cables? Moving to more substantive issues, this article is missing a lot factually. Even your headline is a bit of a head scratcher - is it the non-existent cables or their promoters who are "suffering setbacks?" Although you make a blanket statement, you don't mention any provider details or give any original/revised timelines other than Glo's. The cable is to "pass through New York...before reaching Lagos?" This suggests a specific timing and spatial sequence, the details of which you don't appear to actually have; I think you'd be better off using a verb like "connect." You haven't even said anything about the process by which providing cables would automatically "crash consumer bills." Go and check out South Africa's experience where, in spite of an abundance of submarine cable bandwidth, broadband prices dropped relatively slowly due to a combination of operator dominance and regulator (ICASA) indifference/misplaced priorities. I don't think you can blame this one on an editor o! Please take out a subscription to "Balancing Act," I think it'd help you brush up on broader industry developments so you can give readers like us, the sort of incisive and illuminating news and analysis that we're getting used to elsewhere on Next.