The vice president of the West African state of Gambia this week launched the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable system at the Banjul, Gambia, landing station in a "glitzy" event.
The 17 000km submarine cable has been laid along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa stretching from France to South Africa. Sixteen operators from 23 countries and France Telecom are taking part in the venture.
Launching the $700 million project, Gambian VP, Isatou Njie-Saidy, noted that Africa has been dependent for decades on secondary and alternative routes of international communications resulting in traffic imbalances, significant transit charges and high call rates.
"The introduction of ACE," Njie-Saidy said, "is a means to empower and liberate African countries from such dependency by linking them directly to the global telecommunications infrastructure."
Meeting targets
Njie-Saidy said ACE cable will help in meeting the targets of African Union's Programme on Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the 'Build on Broadband' initiative launched by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which seeks "to connect all African capitals and major cities with ICT broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity to the rest of the world in the near future".
In his address at the launch ceremony, ACE chairman, Yves Ruggeri, who is also head of network systems at France Telecom, said the event was significant as more than 90% of global Internet traffic occurs beneath the ocean.
Ruggeri said the ACE cable currently serves France, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe while Nigeria and landlocked Mali and Niger will be connected to the system next year.
The Banjul launch marked the completion of the first phase of the project and that the cable will eventually serve Spain's Canary Islands, Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
The concept began in 2008 when France Telecom Orange Group decided "to develop a sustainable, competitive solution to the transmission capacity needs of its subsidiaries in Africa".
Several players are involved in the cable, including: Gambia Submarine Cable, Sonatel, Sierra Leone Cable, Cable Consortium of Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire Telecom, Expresso Telecom Group, France Telecom, Guineenne de la Large Bande, International Mauritania Telecom, Orange Cameroon, Orange Mali, Orange Niger, Portugal Telecom, STP Cabo, The Republic of Equatorial Guinea and The Gabonese Republic.
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