Utilising Alcatel-Lucent’s 100Gbit/s submarine technology, the 5,000km extension from the Gulf of Guinea Island of Sao Tome-et-Principe to South Africa will bring the overall system to 17,000km.
Phase two of the construction, which includes an extension to Cameroon, will link Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville and South Africa.
“The extension of the ACE system to South Africa is a significant milestone that confirms our commitment to address the connectivity challenges facing Africa,” said Yves Ruggeri, chairman of the ACE Management Committee.
“ASN’s know-how and technological innovations, which we have recently tested on our existing network, will support us in further developing direct connectivity within Africa and to the overall objective of ACE to reduce communication costs and drive social and economic growth in the continent,” Ruggeri added.
When completed, the system will deliver an overall design capacity of 12.8Tbit/s, representing a significant upgrade in broadband delivery. In addition the extension will support the cost-effective delivery of broadband services and digital applications for education, healthcare and other e-services.
