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Seacom targets enterprise market

Paula Gilbert
By Paula Gilbert, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 09 Oct 2015
Seacom CEO Byron Clatterbuck says this is only the beginning of Seacom's plan to transform the African business connectivity landscape.
Seacom CEO Byron Clatterbuck says this is only the beginning of Seacom's plan to transform the African business connectivity landscape.

Undersea cable company Seacom has entered the African enterprise market, offering cloud services and fibre Internet access directly to corporate clients and SMEs.

Seacom CEO Byron Clatterbuck says this is only the beginning of Seacom's plan to transform the African business connectivity landscape.

"In the past, Seacom focused on bringing low-cost data transmission infrastructure to other service providers in Africa. However, we were not seeing the optimal take-up of our international capabilities in the marketplace and the benefits this can bring," he says.

"We have the network, the skills and the capabilities to unleash the value of our international network directly to corporate users, and see huge benefit for businesses in doing so. We are pleased that the market agrees with us."

The company says since the soft launch of its enterprise offering a year ago, the Seacom Business division is already signing up over 20 corporate and SME customers a month, and has appointed 20 business partners to support its drive into a new market. The launch offerings include fibre Internet access, with options ranging from 25Mbps up to 1Gbps.

Grant Parker, head of Seacom Business, says Seacom aims to "shake up the enterprise connectivity space" by offering businesses high-speed connectivity and quality bandwidth at an affordable cost.

"Our first customers are pleased with the offerings we have brought to market, and we are getting many new business referrals from them," says Parker.

The company is leveraging its scalable capacity on its undersea cable system and continent-wide IP-MPLS network, as well as the capabilities of its cloud services, to enable businesses in South Africa and East Africa to smoothly transition to the cloud.

"We're aiming to offer the South African corporate and SME markets a killer experience at the right cost, and in so doing, transform the market as we did when we launched our submarine cable system six years ago."

Last-mile fibre is also a major focus for Seacom in the corporate market, and initially, the company aims to bring standard fibre to corporate customers in Kenya and South Africa. It has already launched 20 fibre precincts in South Africa and plans to roll out another 40 by the end of the year.

Parker believes the time is right for the company to diversify its business into the enterprise market.

"We will address some top-tier clients through a direct sales strategy, but our intention is to address most of the business market in partnership with leading service providers. Our operation will be lean and focused," according to Parker.

"There is a real hunger in the market for affordable, high-quality fibre connectivity, as well as for private and outsourced network solutions, and we're well positioned to service this market with the assets we own and manage."

Seacom launched Africa's first broadband submarine cable system along the eastern and southern coastlines in 2009, linking South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique with major Internet connection hubs in Europe and Asia. Now the company has moved beyond being just a cable operator to become a pan-African service provider.

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