The recently-unveiled East Africa Submarine System (Eassy) plans to more than double its current available capacity in 2011.
Following 100% network reliability during its first four months of operation, Eassy has taken the decision to increase its “lit capacity”, utilising 40Gbps wavelength technology.
Although premature, Eassy's management committee explains that its continued success has enabled a system upgrade to be initiated sooner than planned.
“The level of capacity sales in the first few months of operation has outstripped our initial forecasts and so we have taken the decision to bring forward the first upgrade of the system,” explains Chris Wood, CEO of West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), Eassy's largest shareholder.
The project has enjoyed other success as well. Upon launch, Eassy cable management committee chairman Trevor Martins said the system had entered into commercial operation ahead of schedule, on 31 July, approximately 10% below the nearly $300 million budget and at higher capacity.
Initially, the cable was designed to deliver capacity of 60Gbps, Martins said, but after-market analysis and the subsequent design upgrades, the cable offered - at launch - capacity of up to 3.84Tbps.
More than 25 telecommunications operators, mainly from Africa, along with a number of global operators that invested in Eassy, have commenced customer service on the cable. Local investors include Neotel, Telkom, MTN and Vodacom.
The cable will be the second to deliver international bandwidth in SA, connecting SA with eight other African countries. It will also offer transit connectivity through backhaul networks into at least 12 landlocked countries.
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