Africa gains in connectivity with submarine deals

The African continent became more connected this week as global telecoms network exchange Epsilon Telecommunications interconnected with both the SEACOM and West Africa Cable System (WACS), giving the company undersea cable connectivity that circumnavigates Africa.

Epsilon specialises in managed network services, and said it is seeing growth in Africa for its outsourced network service model. African carriers which need to connect abroad are using Epsilon to gain access to 170+ countries and similarly Tier 1 carriers who need a presence in smaller African markets can now use Epsilon to connect in the region.

With SEACOM connected, Epsilon can offer its customers network connectivity to Africa via the SEACOM undersea network as well as carrying African telecoms traffic globally. Customers of SEACOM in turn have access to Epsilon’s 450+ preconnected network operators around the world.

SEACOM’s undersea cable system directly connects South Africa and eastern Africa with Europe and southern Asia, covering a distance of over 17,000km.

The interconnection agreement with West Africa Cable System covers the west cost of the continent. The consortium-owned WACS undersea cable system spans 16,000km and has 15 landing stations from South Africa to the UK. The WACS consortium is made up of 11 international telecoms carriers.