Seacom gets cold shoulder

Government has ignored Seacom, which has delivered the most significant telecommunications connection this country has experienced for years, and one has to wonder why.

Seacom is a pioneering effort on many levels. It is the first time a private equity venture has arranged the financing, construction and implementation of a telecommunications infrastructure on this scale.

The $600 million it cost to build far outweighs the real value it can offer the 100 million or so people (excluding South Africa's 49 million) who live in the East African region - the last major population area in the world that has, until a week ago, had no undersea cable link. It also breaks the monopoly hold the incumbents (notably Telkom) have enjoyed at all our expense.

Finally, the region has access to global telecommunications at a price that is affordable and at speeds that take one's breath away. Certainly, many will debate the ultimate business case - just what kind of return the Seacom investors are looking for and what the future plans of the company really are. But, all those debates and speculation are sideshows to the fact that the cable has landed.

The fact is that Seacom laid an East African cable first, it broke a monopoly hold first, and it offered true broadband speeds first. Other cables are reportedly on their way, with plans to lay them down both coasts, but - even if they offer better business cases, higher capacity and have the approval of various governmental agencies or offer free peppermints with every gigabyte used - the fact is they will not have achieved the firsts that Seacom has.

Make no mistake: it would be a good thing that all these cables land. Ask any IT expert and they will say one cannot have too much bandwidth or storage. But, until these other ventures actually connect us to the rest of the world, they remain pipe dreams, with little or no real significance to the vast majority of people who have become punch drunk with one promise after another rolling off silver tongues.

Seacom also proved a small, agile and determined team could achieve in three years what literally thousands of bureaucrats could not over a time span of at least three times as long.

Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Seacom also proved a small, agile and determined team could achieve in three years what literally thousands of bureaucrats could not over a time span of at least three times as long. Government and international institutions were shown up for having spent more time in pandering, back-stabbing and playing games of one-upmanship than actually getting ahead with the task at hand.

It has also dispelled the myth that the private sector is not interested in long-term infrastructure projects. Seacom did have the convenience that most of its construction was carried out in international waters, away from any direct government interference, and it formed alliances when and where necessary to land the cable. This proves the point that if economic conditions are right, government policies are consistent, and regulation light; then the private sector will happily participate in capital-intensive projects such as this.

Yes, Seacom did run a month behind schedule, but this is no real issue for a project of this size and scope. Some of its clients privately told me it was actually a bit of a relief as they were not quite ready for the original switch-on date anyway.

It is customary when a venture of some size is completed to offer those who drove it some kind of congratulations. Such a message doesn't mean outright support or capitulation, one doesn't even have to like them, agree with them or even think they are worthy of being called human.

But it acknowledges achievement. Much in the same way as two sporting teams shake hands after a match, or belligerent generals develop a grudging respect for each other.

When I asked both Seacom and South African government officials if a message of congratulations had been sent, both parties avoided answering the question for fear of becoming entangled in some kind of public spat. However, the sense that I got was that it was not sent and I am not surprised at that.

Almost every presentation or briefing that I have seen by government officials has all but ignored the fact that Seacom exists. This is because they really want their own projects to succeed, but until something more concrete happens, like funding, they will remain fluttering in the wind.

So maybe the congratulations should go to government. Through its own inability to get its projects going and tripping over its own regulatory feet, it actually allowed Seacom to land. Now wait for the follow-through to happen.