New Delhi, August 5, 2010 – In a move that is set to hugely boost connectivity of East African countries with rest of the world, Bharti Airtel, one of the leading emerging markets’ telcos together with global telcos today announced the launch of the EASSy cable system. This 10000 Km cable has received investment of around $263 million and has a capacity of 1.4 terabits per second, making it the largest submarine cable system serving the African continent.
EASSy is the first East coast system to connect a direct route to Europe thereby helping to deliver data traffic faster to key internet peering points in Europe and North America. It connects Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan ( in Sudan ) with landing points in nine countries. This cable system is expected to prove a boon in proliferation of broadband connectivity to all parts of Africa, a prerequisite for the successful production of e-commerce, internet, and other broadband applications and projects on the continent.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Ajay Chitkara, CEO, Global Data Business , Bharti Airtel said, “Our investment of over US $500 million over the last two years are designed to create a global network that offers unmatched resilience and maximum diversity. The commencement of EASSy cable system is a significant step in our journey to create a robust undersea cable infrastructure for our customers. It will also safeguard & ensure all time connectivity of East African countries with the world. This will facilitate proliferation of ICT services thereby ensuring macro economic development of the region. Bharti Airtel is proud to be part of the consortium building this significant undersea cable system.”
“EASSy represents a bridge for Africa’s broadband infrastructure by linking Africa to the global broadband infrastructure network. The presence and partnership of global players such as Bharti Airtel means that EASSy can and will also act as a bridge for South-South cooperation. This link delivers an important direct route for efficient flow of information for trade, economic, social and other cooperation between Asia and Africa. I trust that the achievement of this economic expansion is a clear indicator that the initial objectives of EASSy go far beyond just the simple delivery of infrastructure” said, Chairman of the EASSy Cable Management Committee.
The consortium comprises of 16 telecom operators including Bharti Airtel and other players like British Telecom, Etisalat, Saudi Telecom, MTN International Group, Telkom South Africa & others. EASSy landing stations include Port Sudan, Djibouti, Mombasa, Dar-easalaam, Moroni in Comoros Islands, Toliary in Madagaskar, Maputo in Mozambique and Mtuzini in South Africa
This cable link synergises with Bharti Airtel’s existing multiple high speed connectivity options for its global wholesale operations and offers a direct route to Europe from India. Bharti Airtel’s investments in EASSy, is part of its plans to expand it global network through its ownership of the i2i submarine cable system and consortium ownership in other global undersea cable systems like Unity, SEA-ME-WE 4, EIG, I-ME-WE and AAG.
About Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. The company offers mobile voice & data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH, turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national & international long distance services to carriers. Bharti Airtel has been ranked among the six best performing technology companies in the world by BusinessWeek. Bharti Airtel had over 189 million customers across its operations at the end of June 2010. To know more visit www.airtel.in
About EASSy
EASSy cable is a fully integrated multi-technology network. It is an undersea fiber optic cable that will link the countries of East Africa to the rest of the world. As the term implies, the EASSy project secretariat is the administrative center of the EASSy project and is located at the Telkom Kenya premises in Nairobi, Kenya .
