Q. What have been your key developments so far in 2017?
Our key developments so far in 2017, have included a number. The West Africa Cable System (WACS) achieved 100% operational uptime in our markets. Angonix achieved a peak of traffic of 5.2Gbps and the internet exchange became one of the top five exchanges in Africa.
We launched new products and services in order to enlarge our product portfolio.
NEC concluded the site survey for the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS). We began constructing the Tier III data centre and the cable landing station for the Monet cable and SACS in Fortaleza,Brazil.
Angola Cable’s IP network expanded in Europe – to Portugal, the UK, Germany, Spain and France. And we deployed an IP point of presence in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Q. What are your strategic priorities this year?
The Monet cable system will be ready for service in the second half of 2017. We will provide IP transit services for African countries including SADC and west African Countries.
We will connect more members to the Angonix IX so s to remain one of the top five largest African IXs.
Q. What are you expansion and development plans over the next year?
Our expansion and development plans over the next year are to expand the Angola Cables network to other locations – to the US and Brazil.
We will conclude construction of the Tier III data centre in Fortaleza, Brazil. We will conclude SACS by mid-2018, which is designed to provide low latency routing between Africa and the Americas.
Q. What new opportunities do you predict for the wholesale sector over the next few years?
New opportunities we predict for the wholesale sector over the next few years include tapping into the cloud segment and all support connectivity required for the internet of things in developing markets.
There will be new submarine cable system routes. We will see development of technology allowing cable systems to have bigger capacities and lowering the price per megabit. And we will see the development of terrestrial African backbones.
Q. What are you hoping to achieve at ITW 2017?
To have a commitment for both our cables, SACS and Monet, and to understand what is the demand and what are the preferred routes the markets are looking for.
To have commitments for our data centre in Brazil, and understand what is the demand and what are the preferred services related to our data centre activities,
To establish partnerships for content delivery networks and other content-centric companies that are interested in delivering or expanding their content in the African continent.
