Angola, Botswana and Namibia are still in talks over the best solution to gain more affordable access to the SAT-3 international submarine cable.
The countries have been in talks since July last year, to help the southern African country come to a more suitable and affordable bandwidth solution, says Oiva Angula, senior public relations manager at Telecom Namibia.
The only access available to SAT-3 for the countries is through the existing landing points in Luanda and Cape Town, explains Angula.
At present, the capacity is available on both routes and can be accessed as required.
Namibia connects to SAT-3 via the landing point in Cape Town, through the terrestrial fibre cable, over which Telkom SA has capacity rights.
The transit cost from the Namibian border to Cape Town is too high and contributes significantly to the overall high bandwidth cost in Namibia.
"Costing on bandwidth is becoming an unsustainable expense and we need to pursue alternatives," explains Angula.
Willing to cooperate
Angola, Botswana and Namibia have been collaborating on what has been termed an "Angolan proposal", whereby the Angolan Domestic Cable Network (Adones) will be used as the basis for Namibia`s SAT-3 connectivity at Luanda.
The Adones fibre optic network will run from Namibe, in Angola, to Swakopmund, in Namibia. The fibre optic route is being rolled out and is expected to be finished by 2008.
Rates on the SAT-3 fibre optic cable are distance-related. If Namibia and Botswana connect via this means, the bandwidth rates will be heavily reduced, explains Angula.
The three countries have already signed a memorandum of understanding that sets out the broad principles of cooperation. It includes terms of reference for multilateral cooperation that forms the basis for further negotiations, says Angula.
The countries still need to agree on some political and commercial parameters before any cooperation agreement is signed, he adds.
Weighing options
Angula says the ideal situation would be to build Namibia`s own landing point at Swakopmund, allowing the country to access SAT-3 directly.
"With capacity and co-landing rights secured on SAT-3, building a landing point in Namibia is the most obvious alternative."
The choice of investing in a submarine cable will be looked at as the best option between buying or renting and mitigating the risk of dependency on another country. Government funding might be required in the interest of consumers, he notes.
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