Submarine cable network to link Seychelles and Tanzania

NOVEMBER 16, 2010 -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it has signed a contract worth more than $30 million with Seychelles Cable System (SCS) to build the Seychelles East Africa System linking Victoria in Seychelles, to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The new submarine cable network will provide the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, with high-speed direct access to the world’s optical fiber backbone for the first time. The Seychelles East Africa System will span more than 1,900 km.

The Alcatel-Lucent end-to-end package will be based on its submarine cable family, its 1620 Light Manager submarine line terminal, SDH equipment in the landing stations, and end-to-end network management in the landing stations. Alcatel-Lucent will manage the project on a turnkey basis including the system design, manufacturing, installation, and commissioning.

The SCS is a Special Purpose Vehicle set up to build and operate the Seychelles East-Africa System. It comprises of the Government of Seychelles, Cable & Wireless Seychelles, and TSL (AIRTEL Seychelles). SCS is being assisted by Development Funding Institutions in the financing of SEAS.

Africa has historically been among the least connected continents. But the past year has seen several new cables systems either under construction or completed. As a result, the number of submarine cable networks will increase by a factor of five by the end of 2012 compared to 2000. The new networks will bring the total capacity available to 20.2 Tbps from the 0.2 Tbps in 2000, as well as increase the number of landing points from 16 to 76 over the same reference period, says Alcatel-Lucent.

“As the penetration of Internet access in the African continent continues to gain momentum there is tremendous opportunity to offer new applications that can benefit every sector of society,” said Philippe Dumont, President of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks SAS. “The promise of appealing new applications is compelling service providers to demand better connectivity and extended access to capacity so they can meet the needs of their customers.”

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