wiUSA December 2013

INDEX

Somalia’s first fiber optic link to the world

Although it hasoneof the longest shorelineson the continent, Somalia does not benefit from the three undersea cables that run alongside it. All of them land further south in Kenya, from where Liquid Telecom will be linking to it. The company has access to capacity on all three cables and is a shareholder in one, the East African Marine System. Liquid provides bandwidth connectivity to clients in 16 countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, throughboth satelliteandcableconnections. Rudnick said the company would spend $250 million over the next two years to extend its network to more African cities including major centers in west Africa.

Liquid Telecom, an African fiber optic company, has delivered a broadband Internet cable to Somalia. The cable is the first terrestrial connection to the country, which has had to rely on expensive satellite links. Liquid Telecom has agreed a deal with Somalian mobile operator Hormuud to connect to its 17,000km network of terrestrial cables crossing 11 African countries. Liquid already provides Somalia with international Internet links via satellite, but will now deliver more capacity faster. "If there is a place that is not connected, that is the place that attracts us," Nic Rudnick, chief executive of Mauritius-based Liquid Telecom, told Reuters at an African telecoms conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - December 2013

41