Paratus claim that at 123ms latency, the route is the fastest to run the length of Africa. It achieves this latency by using Infinera’s FlexILS and GX Series dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) equipment.
The Infinera equipment is cable of handling wavelengths of up to 800G.
Paratus has just completed its 1,890km fibre link between Johannesburg and Swakopmund in Namibia, where Google’s Equiano cable is landed by the group.
Equiano runs from Swakopmund up the coast of Africa to Lisbon before heading on to London and the rest of Europe.
The Johannesburg to Swakopmund section of the route was completed by a Johannesburg to Lobatse, Bostwana link and the Paratus built Botswana Kalahri Fiber (BKF) cable, which stretches across Botswana to the cable landing station in Namibia.
The news comes as disruption to African connectivity was seen in March, with Equiano coming to the rescue in terms of redundant capacity.
Paratus said the new route offers an additional level of resilience for networks transporting data across, out of and into Africa.
“Because we understand the unique connectivity needs of the various regions, we have tailored our solutions to meet their specific requirements. Culminating in this unique express route, we can now offer carriers and operators a diverse and unequalled transmission route to Europe,” Paratus Group chief commercial officer Martin Cox said.
“It’s simply the best,” Cox added, channelling his inner Tina Turner.
“Our continual investment in creating Africa’s quality network is now extended with the launch of this express route. This is an exciting time for network operators in South Africa because they can now procure the fastest and most robust connectivity from Johannesburg to Europe,” added Schalk Erasmus, CEO of Paratus Group.
