Africa INX, a wholesale telecommunications operator in South Africa, has announced plans to land an additional STM16 of SAT 3 capacity at Teraco Rondebosch in the next quarter, increasing its landed SAT 3 capacity to a total of 5Gbps.
In conjunction with this rollout, Africa INX has also committed to its first circuit on WACS, which will also be live in the same period. This will drive diversity and provide clients with alternative international options from the region.
“The additional SAT 3 landed capacity will be aimed at delivering general services and transit capacity to ISPs in the region. The capacity has also potentially been earmarked for special projects aimed at benefiting Africa INX's overall strategy of bringing faster access to the region. One of those projects will most likely include interconnecting with Microsoft's network, in London, and providing affordable international access to services like Link and 365. We are also open to considering other projects at this time,” says Stuart Hardy, Managing Director of Africa INX.
Africa INX has remained loyal to its investment in SAT 3 amid mounting pressure from the release of WACS in the recent months. Most operators that have invested in WACS at some level are consolidating their bandwidth to the new cable system to benefit from the lower costs.
“There is no doubt that WACS has been good for the general market and is driving a new price level in the industry. But as a cable system, it is still unproven and we feel safer with our commitment to SAT 3, as we know what the performance has been like over the last 15 years. We are, however, excited to be making an inroad into the new system by activating capacity on WACS in the next few months, providing us with a third route out of the country.”
The cost of international capacity has consistently reduced year-on-year as new cable systems have landed in the country. The introduction of WACS has once again put pressure on the market to provide an overall reduction in bandwidth fees.
“I guess one of the things I hope accompanies WACS is some normalised level of predictable pricing over time. It's an area where I am sad to say I have underestimated twice in the last two years, as the price drops have been greater than imagined. It's a difficult thing to manage as a wholesale provider, but it's something we have to get right,” ends Hardy.
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