MTN leads West Africa Cable System, launched in Cape Town
[Johannesburg, 14 May 2012] -
It has been six years since MTN boldly pioneered and committed over US$100 million into Africa's largest capacity submarine fibre-optic cable. Today (11 May) marked the commercial launch of the much-anticipated ultra high-capacity West Africa Cable System (WACS) linking Southern and Western Africa to Europe.The 17 200km fibre-optic submarine cable system will effectively raise South Africa's current broadband capacity by more than 500 Gigabits per second (Gbps). This will be a much-needed boost to MTN in South Africa, where consumer appetite for data quadrupled during 2011, with data consumption (excl SMS) up by approximately 200% year-on-year. In the same period, smartphone usage increased by 128% to 3.6 million users, while data users soared to 10.9 million.WACS spans the west coast of Africa, starting at Yzerfontein near Cape Town, South Africa and terminating in the United Kingdom. The system will enable MTN operations to enjoy seamless connectivity into the rest of Europe and the Americas. The four-fibre pair system was constructed at an approximate total project cost of US$650 million.
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