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SAT3 broadband cable upgrade doubles current system capacity

South Africa’s internet depends on the various undersea cables that run along the east and west coast lines, linking the African continent to Europe, North America and Asia. One of the biggest cables is the 14 350km SAT-3/WASC undersea line, and it has just received a major boost.

The cable runs down the west coast of Africa, and connects all the countries on the coast line to broadband internet. Before the fourth-stage upgrade, the speeds achieved were 420 Gb/s in the northern segments, but that has now more than doubled to 920 Gb/s. The southern segments of the cable has been upgraded from 340 Gb/s to 800 Gb/s.

“This cable upgrade further addresses the global capacity demands such as fast internet connectivity, data-hungry applications, high-quality video-on-demand and increasing social media usage, thus enhancing customer experience,” said Telkom’s chief technology officer Alphonzo Samuels.

The cable boasts one of the lowest latency routes from Africa to Europe with connectivity between Europe, West Coast of Africa and Southern Africa with landings in South Africa, Angola, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Spain and Portugal.

“SAT-3/WASC/SAFE has a proven track record backed by 12 years of operational experience and sound financial stability, allowing for further cable upgrades and optimum network performance, both regionally and globally. The additional capacity available with the fourth upgrade will contribute significantly in meeting the ongoing demand in the markets served by SAT3/WASC/SAFE,” explained Johan Meyer, management committee chairman of SAT-3/WASC/SAFE consortium, in a press statement.

What this means for the everyday consumer who connects to the cables system, is that they will experience better broadband connectivity, have the opportunity to access more bandwidth and allow more people to connect to the internet.

[Source – Telkom, Image – ITU]

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