West Africa Cable System lands in Ghana

May 14, 2011
Accra , May 14, GNA - The West Africa Cable System (WACS) on Friday landed on the shores of Ghana , gearing the country up for an unprecedented information communication technological revolution.

Touted as the largest design capacity submarine cable to land on the African Continent, the WACS landing will mean increased network capacity for Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) subscribers and an additional diversity for its enterprise customers' Internet Protocol (IP), data and voice communication needs.

MTN has invested some 90 million dollars in the WACS, an ultra high capacity submarine system deploying next generation technology that will enable seamless connectivity between countries in Southern and Western Africa, and with the rest of Europe, America and the East.

Providing some 5.12 terabytes per second, the cable system is expected to go commercial in early 2012. Subscribers of the MTN carrier in Ghana and across the continent would receive a broadband windfall upon the completion of supporting infrastructure.

Micheal Ikpoki, MTN Ghana's Chief Executive Officer, said the landing of WACS in Ghana was "a crucial milestone for the industry and country, since it will serve as a key enabler to critical telecommunications development in Ghana ".

He said the landing was expected to increase overall capacity for transmission of telecommunications data (bandwidth) in Ghana . "This single cable will catapult the country deep into the digital age."

"It is now time for Africa to leverage the growth prospects of this fast growing industry to help speed up her socio-economic development, exploring the vast opportunities that broadband brings, be it high-speed connection to the internet, telemedicine, video conferencing and several others.

He said MTN's investment in the WACS bore testimony to the company's commitment to providing affordable broadband access to its subscribers, adding, "All these financial commitments continue to make us the single largest investor in the telecommunications sector in Ghana ."

"The provision of cost effective access to broadband is taking an increasingly important role, particularly in Africa and is being hailed as a step in the right direction...And we at MTN have positioned ourselves strategically to provide world class services to all our valued customers".

"MTN shares these ideals of development and business and we remain a committed partner to Africa and Ghana 's socio-economic development."

The landing of the 14,000 kilometre network system, which commences from Spain , terminating in South Africa , aims to provide greater capacity at high speeds to meet the increase in demand for IP, data, and voice communications in the fast-growing telecoms sector in African countries.

The WACS initial capacity would be over 500 gigabytes per second and upgradeable at any stage of the system's 25-year long design life span. The design of the system would enable the carrier incorporate latest developments in submarine fibre-optic transmission technology.

It has 15 terminal stations which anchor along the western coast of Africa, including countries where MTN has operations such as Ghana , Nigeria , Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Congo , Namibia and South Africa .

MTN is the single biggest investor in the WACS, and is deploying additional capital towards aggregated construction of its four Cable Landing Stations in Ghana , Cote d'Ivoire , Nigeria and Cameroon .

GNA