Google’s infrastructure investment along the western seaboard of Africa reflects the global inclination toward digital transformation in this relatively untapped region.
The Equiano subsea cable connects Cape Town at the tip of South Africa, to Lisbon Portugal. With branching units extending along Africa’s West Coast to enhance connectivity to more African countries.
What are subsea cables?
As the name indicates, they are literally submarine cables that run along seabeds carrying telecommunication signals. These cables are effectively the lifeline of our digital world – providing connectivity wherever you may be.
Anything from streaming to running a software application requires the use of these subsea cables. As the world becomes more connected and the push for cloud computing grows, the demand for, and execution of new subsea cables will increase too.
The Equiano Cable
DYK: The Equiano cable is named after Olaudah Equiano, a Nigerian-born writer, and abolitionist.
Google, the multinational technology powerhouse, recently announced the Equiano cable project connecting Africa to Europe. This cable is its third privately-owned subsea cable and 14th cable investment to date.
As a first of its kind, the Equiano cable makes use of fiber-level switching technology. This increases the number of fibers that can be housed in a single cable and eliminates the need for auxiliary equipment to be deployed alongside the cable.
This architecture increases the number of paths that can switch on the cable, increasing the branches connecting to onshore landing stations.
In addition to South Africa and Portugal, the cable will have nine branching units along its length, allowing many more connections across Africa, such as Nigeria, Togo, the islands of St Helena, and Namibia.
What does this mean for you?
As this cable’s capacity grows and extends into more territories, there is increased need for digital infrastructure in these regions. But for suppliers, exploring unknown territories can be daunting, with varying compliance requirements and a lack of import knowledge.
TecEx has a wealth of experience, deploying IT hardware into Africa and Europe. As the Equiano line branches into new countries, rest assured that TecEx can assist you with deploying your IT hardware into these destinations without any hassle.
Reach out to us for more information on deploying your IT hardware, hassle-free.