WiredInUSA May 2016

INDEX

Linking continents

Cable consortium

Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP and TE SubCom have begun construction work on the 14,000km trans-Pacific Hawaiki submarine cable system, linking Australia and New Zealand to mainland United States and Hawaii. The system is expected to be completed by mid-2018, offering the fastest link between Sydney and the US west coast at over 30Tb capacity. Hawaiki will be a privately owned and carrier-neutral cable. Sir Eion Edgar and Remi Galasso, the co-developers of the project, have entered into a long-term partnership and joined forces with entrepreneur Malcolm Dick, to fund and operate the multi-million dollar cable system. “This is a fantastic achievement for the team. We are delighted to move to the implementation phase and pursue our collaboration with TE SubCom,” said Mr Galasso, chief executive officer of Hawaiki. “They have demonstrated a full commitment to the project since the early stages of development, and are a true partner of Hawaiki.”

MTN Group, PCCW Global, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Telecom Egypt (TE) and Telkom South Africa have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the intention of constructing the new Africa-1 submarine cable system. This consortium-funded system will connect Africa with the Middle East and south central Asia, and provide onward connectivity to Europe. Companies named in the MoU bring wide experience in the deployment of major cable systems, and they are expected to be joined by other carriers seeking to contribute to, and share in, Africa-1’s success. The consortium members have access to landings at all major cable systems in the Middle East, which will facilitate efficient and effective connectivity between Africa-1 and the rest of the world. Africa-1 will have at least 3-fiber pair core that extends over 12,000km along Africa’s east coast towards Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, with up to an additional 5,000km for branches. Africa-1 will utilize 100G technology and will be equipped to accommodate several terabits of capacity from day one.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - May 2016

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