wiredinUSA March 2013

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wiredInUSA - March 2013 wiredInUSA - March 2013 39 38
Tanzania experienced almost a day of
Internet failure after two submarine cables
experienced technical problems.
In an interview with the Daily News,
the acting CEO of the Tanzania
Telecommunication Company Limited
(TTCL), Dr Kamugisha Kazaura, said the
problems occurred at Alexandria where
the cables are connected to others linking
the continent to Europe.
“Our two submarine cables Easy and
Seacom are connected to other cables to
Europe. The problem occurred in a stretch
of eight kilometers offshore of...Alexandria.
Easywas the first toexperience theproblem
at about 1.30pm and it was followed by
Seacom an hour later,” Dr Kamugisha said
in a telephone interview.
While most East African countries were
affected by the Internet breakdown,
Kenya was least affected as it uses the
Teams cable, according to Dr Kamugisha.
With a capacity of 1.2Gb per second, the
submarine cables are almost 20 times faster
than satellite connections.
Cable faults cause
Internet blackout
ASIA / AFRICA NEWS
Israel’s Internet provider, Bezeq, has
begun work on a fiber optic network in
Ness Ziona, Ramat Hasharon, and Modi'in,
and expects to have the cities fully wired
within a few months.
Although Bezeq has announced its
intention to accelerate the replacement
of its copper wire network with fiber
optics, it will not yet provide fiber optic
telecommunications services pending a
decision on the technology. It is therefore
laying the cables, but will postpone the
installation of smart boxes at its centers
and customers to a later date.
Bezeq’s FTTH project is intended to meet
customers’ growing demand for high
speed Internet. Bezeq plans to replace its
entire copper wire network within eight
years, to provide most customers with an
unlimited high speed Internet connection.
FTTH, but copper still
in play
A subsidiary of China Gogreen Assets
Investment Ltd has entered into an
agreement with the government of
Xuchang to build 60MW of rooftop solar
photovoltaic (PV) projects in the city. The
plants will demand an investment of $115
million, funded by China GoGreen with
internal resources and subsidies through
the nation’s Golden Sun program.
Subsidiary Beijing Jun Yang Investment
Company Ltd plans to build the plants in
phases, with the first 30MW of PV plants to
be completed in July 2014, and the entire
project completed in December 2015. A
subsidiary of Beijing Jun Yang will provide
operations and maintenance services.
The Xuchang government will assist Beijing
Jun Yang with the necessary approvals, as
well as applying to become a Golden Sun
demonstration project and coordinating
the sale of electricity.
Rooftop
PV
Iraq Business has reported an
announcement by the Iraqi
communications ministry of the
completion of a submarine cable project.
The two-year, $36m project to link Iraq
with other countries was completed by
Gulf Bridge International (GBI), and is
planned to provide Internet, telephone
and television services at lower prices
and with higher quality, the ministry
statement said.
Iraq’s cable
project