SEACOM extends internet connectivity for Zimbabwe

SEACOM, the privately owned African internet connectivity provider, this week announced it had reached a deal with Mozambique to provide a new link to landlocked and much beleaguered Zimbabwe.

In a press statement, the ICT company stated it had, “…signed a Master Services Agreement with Telecomunicações de Moçambique (TDM), the leading telecommunications service provider in Mozambique”.

What this agreement means is that TDM, a state-owned company, will allow its fibre-optic network to be used to link Zimbabweans to SEACOM’s cable running along the Mozambican coast.

“This agreement with TDM demonstrates our commitment to partner with established players to improve the range of service to customers whilst continuously expanding the reach of SEACOM’s low cost services into land-locked countries across the region”, Brian Herlihy, Chief Executive of Seacom said.

The deal — the value of which has not been released — also gives “…SEACOM and its customers access to the largest and most distributed fibre-optic network in Mozambique as well as a diverse route into Zimbabwe and additional border presence into Malawi and South Africa”. the statement added.

The undersea cable already connects to Zimbabwe through South Africa. However, the extra route will improve the reliability of the service SEACOM said.

SEACOM, since 2009, has provided submarine fibre optic network systems for Southern and Eastern Africa. With over 17 000km of fibre optic technology, the cable network serves to connect these two regions of the continent with Europe and Southern Asia.

Since SEACOM’s undersea cables were laid along the continent’s coast, they have expanded Africa’s internet capacity almost 300-fold. Prior to this, the continent relied mainly on excruciatingly slow satellite connections. — AFP

A video by SEACOM on their fibre-optic cable