Sierra Leone gets fibre-optic link

fibre-optic line that aims to connect countries along the West African coast to Europe, AFP reports.

Sierra Leone president Ernest Koroma hailed the “momentous and great communication transformation” in a country where Internet penetration is currently at a mere 6%, and mobile penetration at 35%.

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable, run by a 17-member consortium headed by France Telecom, aims to connect 21 countries, 18 of them in Africa, and is due to be operational in the second half of next year.

Sierra Leone, which is still recovering from a devastating 11-year civil war that ended in 2002, is part of a dwindling group of countries still wholly reliant on highly expensive satellite bandwidth for Internet connections, Reuters explains.

Gilbert Cooper, director of administration of the state-owned Sierra Leone Cable company that is landing the cable, says the cable would only become operational during the second half of 2012 as other preparations need to be completed first.

The Africa Report reveals World Bank estimates that bandwidth in Sierra Leone costs 10 times the level in East Africa and 25 times the US price.

Barely 1% of the population of 5.4 million have access to Internet services. The World Bank is providing $30 million to fund the connection of Sierra Leone to the cable offshore.