Wacs to boost Telkom

By Staff Writer for Telkom
Johannesburg, 11 May 2012

Telkom's submarine cable portfolio:

* SAT3/WASC/SAFE (S3WS): The equipage on SAT3/WASC and SAFE comprise 340Gb/s and 440Gb/s respectively, the total capacity of the two cables is currently larger than any other cable landed in SA, including Wacs. The S3WS cable system is currently undergoing tests to determine the number of 40Gbps wavelengths can be deployed on the cable. Telkom is the single largest owner of S3WS capacity.
* Eastern African Submarine Cable System (Eassy): The Eassy was physically landed on South African waters in early February 2010 and commenced commercial operation on 31 August 2010. The Eassy cable's first upgrade increased the system equipage by more than 600%, or by 160Gbps per fibre pair. The first upgrade was completed on 11 January 2012, taking the total equipped capacity to 380Gbps. Eassy has a design capacity of 1.4Tbps measured in 10Gbps wave technology, but could be three to four times as much if 40Gbps wave technology is used.
* Europe India Gateway (EIG): EIG commenced partial service on 23 February 2011 while awaiting the Egypt crossing. One of two land-based routes across Egypt was completed at the end of 2011, allowing the bulk of the EIG system to be taken into service on 14 January 2012. The cable system has a design capacity of 2.56Tbps measured in 10Gbps wave technology. The design capacity could be much higher if 40Gbps or 100Gbps wave technology is used.
* Columbus 3: The Columbus 3 system is routed between Portugal and the US, providing, in conjunction with SAT3/WACS, the shortest latency route between SA and the US.
* South East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe SEA-ME-WE3 (SMW3): Telkom actively uses the SMW3 cable as an alternative to EIG for extending Eassy capacity beyond East Africa to Europe.

Fixed-line operator Telkom says today's launch of the ultra-high capacity West African Cable System (Wacs), linking southern Africa and Europe, is a significant addition to its international submarine cable portfolio.

The introduction of Wacs into Telkom's undersea cable portfolio will complete the company's second ring of capacity around the African continent. The S3WS, Eastern African Submarine Cable System (Eassy) and South East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe SEA-ME-WE3 (SMW3) cables already form a ring around Africa, the company says.

With the introduction of Wacs, together with Eassy and Europe India Gateway (EIG), a high-capacity ring between SA and Europe has now been formed, Telkom says in a statement.

Telkom was given the responsibility of landing Wacs in SA, it adds. Since the landing of the cable in April 2011, a new cable landing station has been established in Yzerfontein, north of Cape Town.

The cable landing station is owned, operated and maintained by Telkom; however, the costs of the facilities will be shared by the Wacs consortium parties using the station.

Telkom now operates submarine cable gateways at Mtunzini, Melkbosstrand and Yzerfontein, providing SA with three international fibre gateways to minimise the risk of complete isolation in the event of a natural disaster or cable outage.

Extra capacity

The commercial availability of Wacs provides Telkom with significant capacity at each of the three cable gateways, into and out of the country, making it possible to offer more diverse, redundant, and high-capacity global service solutions.

“The demand for greater capacity and faster speeds is ever-present. The introduction of Wacs will deliver connectivity to the continent like never before and Telkom is ready to deliver,” says Casper Kondo Chihaka, Telkom's managing executive of wholesale services.

Designed to support present and future Internet, e-commerce, data, video and voice services, the capacity of the entire system is 5.12Tbps. The system makes use of dense wavelength division multiplexing technology, which enables the transport of multiple wavelengths over a single fibre pair, as well as multiplication of capacity.

The initial capacity of Wacs is over 500Gbps and is upgradable at any stage of the project lifespan. The robustness of the design will enable the system to accommodate the latest developments in submarine fibre-optic technology.

“Capacity and speed is important and Telkom certainly has this, but depth of experience and the ability to innovate and utilise all the capabilities in the network to extract the value is crucial,” says Chihaka.

Related story:
Wacs is on the way