Huawei Marine Networks has announced the completion of its work to upgrade the West Africa Cable System to 100G transmission technology.

The WACS is the largest of a number of cables connecting southern Africa to Europe (as illustrated in the helpful Wikipedia map below) and was commissioned in 2012 by a consortium of 18 telecoms companies. It runs from South Africa to the UK, via Portugal, delivering a total capacity of 5.12 terabits per second.

“Our aim is to provide an advanced, stable and seamless communications network which contributes to the social and economic development of the African region,” said Vishen Maharaj, Chairperson of the WACS consortium’s Management Committee. “We are constantly working to improve the capabilities of the WACS network while maintaining an economically viable and flexible service for customers. It is our pleasure to cooperate with Huawei Marine to significantly expand the WACS network, which is a key part of this effort.”

“With our advanced technology, Huawei Marine has achieved 100G ultra-long haul transmission and offered the WACS consortium a cost-effective solution that substantially increases and enhances network connectivity, operational efficiency and the end-user experience in these growth regions,” said Mike Constable, CEO of Huawei Marine Networks.

With the connection of the ACE submarine cable to the Canary Islands last month, the communications links between Europe and Africa look to be progressing nicely, which should present a lot of new opportunities for both continents in future.

Visit AfricaCom, the biggest and best tech event in Africa, this November in Cape Town