Alcatel-Lucent upgrades EASSy submarine cable

Jan. 23, 2014
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it has won a contract to upgrade the EASSy submarine cable system linking South Africa to Sudan with the latest 100G technology.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it has won a contract to upgrade the EASSy submarine cable system linking South Africa to Sudan with the latest 100G technology.

Alcatel-Lucent‘s 100G technology will enable the system to ultimately carry capacity in excess of 10 Tbps, to support the continued explosion of data traffic in Africa.

EASSy is owned and operated by a group of 17 African and international shareholders – all telecommunications operators and service providers. The 10,000-km system is implemented in a protected ring configuration linking eight countries from Sudan to South Africa, via Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Comores, and Mozambique. Landings are located in Port Sudan, Djibouti (Djibouti), Mombasa (Kenya), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Moroni (Comores), Toliary (Madagascar), Maputo (Mozambique), and Mtunzini (South Africa). The system also interconnects with multiple international submarine networks for diverse, seamless onward connectivity to Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia.

Alcatel-Lucent supplied equipment for EASSy during its installation phase (see "Alcatel-Lucent receives contract for African submarine network").

Chris Wood, chairman of the EASSy management committee, said, “Since EASSy entered service in 2010, we have seen enormous growth in demand for capacity on the system, reflecting the service quality and reliability that we have been able to offer. This upgrade will add an additional 400 Gbps of capacity throughout the system, using Alcatel-Lucent’s advanced coherent 100-Gbps technology.”

Alcatel-Lucent is providing the 1620 Light Manager submarine line terminal equipment using coherent transmission technology at 100 Gbps to provide the most efficient use of the available optical spectrum. Alcatel-Lucent says that its coherent technology, which also incorporates the latest soft decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) technology, provides the highest ultimate capacity at the same time as lowest cost per bit.

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.

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