By Khalifa Hemed
Published November 23, 2017
A submarine cable system connecting Africa and South America across the South Atlantic is in the final stretch of its installation.
As the first and only direct link between Angola and Brazil, South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) is expected to be fully operational in early 2018. Angola Cables, the company in charge of the installation, says the deep-water phase of the installation will last 90 days and cover a distance of 6200 km of cable at depths of up to 5000 metres.
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“SACS presents an opportunity for Angola to become one of the telecommunications hubs in sub-Saharan Africa,” says António Nunes, Chief Executive Officer of Angola Cables.“We expect various economic benefits for Angola, as well as other regions where our network exists, with a number of knock-on effects, including further investment from technology companies requiring high levels of connectivity. Investments in underwater cable systems and data centres are creating digital bridges bringing continents closer, but also improving access to major international telecommunications circuits.”
With SACS in place, analysts say, wholesale customers between Africa and South America will see a fivefold improvement in latency, as well as better access to America, one of the largest producers and aggregators of digital content and services.