Invasion of the 9000 mile snake

OCTOBER THIS YEAR will see the long-awaited arrival of a new 9,300 mile sub-marine cable in East Africa – finally putting the region on the fibre-optic map.

Until now the East African nations have been almost cut-off, having to rely on expensive satellite connections. How ironic that internet users from the world's poorest continent have to pay some of the highest prices for internet use.

Brian Herlihy, the president of Seacom, the company which is laying the cable, explains that "What's stifled demand until now is not poverty… it’s economics - the prices are simply far too high."

The cable will be set under the Indian Ocean and at £322m (AU$691m) is not going to be a small operation.

The giant snake is owned mainly by African investors, and will extend northwards from South Africa, calling in at Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya before meeting the international grid in France and India.

Alan Mauldin, of TeleGeography, a telecoms market research firm in the US says that, "For the first time people in the region will have an on-ramp on to the global internet highway."

This cable-oriented move will not only make Internet life a lot easier and cheaper for East Africa – it also ties in with the move for IT to boost the poor economy.