The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is an undersea

fibre optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

cable system connecting countries in

Eastern Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

to the rest of the world. EASSy runs from Mtunzini in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Port Sudan Port Sudan (, Beja: ) is a port city on the Red Sea in eastern Sudan, and the capital of Red Sea State. Port Sudan is Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% of the country's international trade. The population of Port Sudan was estimated in ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, with landing points in nine countries and is connected to at least ten landlocked countries — which will no longer have to rely on

satellite Internet access Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communication satellites; if it can sustain high-speed Internet, high speeds, it is termed satellite broadband. Modern consumer grade satellite Internet service is typically provide ...

to carry voice and data services. EASSy was the highest capacity system serving sub-Saharan Africa until the commissioning of WACS. It has a 2 fibre-pair configuration with a design capacity of more than 10

terabit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...

per second (Tbit/s). It is the first to deliver direct connectivity between east Africa and Europe / North America. It is the only system with built-in resilience end-to-end. EASSy interconnects with multiple international submarine cable networks for onward connectivity to Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The project, partially funded by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, was initiated in January 2003, when a handful of companies investigated its feasibility. The cable entered service on 16 July 2010, with commercial service starting on 30 July 2010.

Project milestones

*MoU signature – December 2003 *Detailed feasibility study – March 2004 *Data gathering meeting – June 2005 *C&MA drafting finalization – March 2006 *Supply contract award – September 2006 *Registration/incorporation of SPV – January 2007 *Construction and maintenance agreement (Shareholders' Agreement) Signature (C&MA) – 12 October 2006 to 12 February 2007 *Financial closure – March 2007 *Supply contract signature – March 2007 *Construction Started – March 2008 *Cable manufacture complete – November 2009 *Marine laying commencing – December 2009 *Construction complete – April 2010 *Live – July 2010

Telecommunications companies of participating nations

* West Indian Ocean Cable Companybr>WIOCC
comprising: ** Botswana Fibre Networks (BOFINET) ** DALKOM Somalia ** Djibouti Telecom ** Gilat Satcom Nigeria ** Seychelles Cable System ** Lesotho Communications Authority ** Onatel Burundi ** TMCEL Mozambique **

Telkom Kenya Telkom Kenya is an integrated telecommunications provider in Kenya. It was previously a part of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) which was the sole provider of both postal and telecommunication services. The company wa ...

** Libyan Post Telecommunications & Information Technology Company (LPTIC) ** Liquid Telecom ** Uganda Telecom Limited ** Zantel Tanzania ** TelOne Zimbabwe *

MTN Group MTN Group Limited (formerly M-Cell) is a South Africa, South African multinational corporation and mobile telecommunications provider. Its head office is in Johannesburg. MTN is among the List of mobile network operators, largest mobile netwo ...

* Sudatel Sudan *

Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 130 million customers across Africa. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to ...

* Telkom South Africa * Botswana Telecommunications Corporation *

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

Global Marine Systems Global Marine Group is a British-headquartered specialist provider of installation, maintenance and repairs of submarine communications cable, submarine communications cable for the telecommunications, oil & gas and deep sea research industries. ...

*Comores Cables *Telma Madagascar *

Etisalat e&, formerly branded as Etisalat, is an Emirati state-owned telecommunications company. It is the 16th largest in the world by subscribers. On 31 December 2021, Etisalat reported consolidated revenue of AED 53.3 billion and net profits of AED ...

*FT *

Mauritius Telecom Mauritius Telecom (MT) is a telecommunications company in Mauritius, a small republic in the Indian Ocean. The company had about 392,000 fixed line customers, 969,000 mobile customers, 404,000 fibre-ready homes, 178,000 IPTV customers, and 255,000 ...

* STC Saudi Arabia *

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Telecommunications in India, telecommunications company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. ...

* Liquid Telecom * Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited

Cable landing points

The

cable landing point A cable landing point is the location where a Submarine cable, submarine or other underwater cable makes landfall. The term is most often used for the landfall points of submarine communications cable, submarine telecommunications cables and subm ...

s are: *

, Sudan *

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

, Somalia *

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya * Moroni, Comoros *

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

, Tanzania *

Toliary Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in southern Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of the national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name ...

, Madagascar *

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, Mozambique * Mtunzini, South Africa

References

"Eastern Africa submarine cable delayed for one year"
''Sudan Tribune'', February 4, 2006

''The East African Standard'', May 17, 2006

''Infoworld'', June 12, 2006
"Alcatel Wins EASSy Contract"
''IT Web'', July 12, 2006
"Kenya aims for own internet cable"
''BBC News'', September 8, 2006 *

External links

EASSy official websiteWIOCC - largest EASSy investor
{{Submarine communications cables in the Indian Ocean East Africa Southern Africa Internet in Africa Submarine communications cables in the Indian Ocean Wide area networks 2010 establishments in Africa

Project milestones

Telecommunications companies of participating nations

Cable landing points

See also

References

External links