Tata Communications consortium to set up $600-million West African Cable System

Tata Communications Ltd (TCL) has joined a global consortium to build the West African Cable System (WACS), a fibre optic submarine network that will link countries in southern Africa, western Africa and Europe with at least 3.84 terabits per second of bandwidth.

The entire installation is expected to cost about $600-million and should be ready for service by 2011.

''This investment will further boost TCL's global reach and enhance the company's investments in the region,'' TCL said in a statement in Mumbai on Thursday.

WACS has been set up by a consortium of multinational telcos, and Alcatel-Lucent Sumbarine Networks provide a 14,000 km submarine fibre optic cable system.

The consortium includes Angola Telecom, Broadband Infraco, Cable & Wireless, MTN, Telecom Namibia, Portugal Telecom, Sotelco, Tata Communications, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom.

''Access to advanced technologies is key in some areas of the world that do not yet benefit from internet opportunities,'' said Georges Krebs, chief operating officer of submarine network activity at Alcatel-Lucent.

''By meeting the requirements of communications infrastructures in terms of flexibility and scalability, we help our customers to enhance their capacity and deliver a more seamless and reliable service so that end users can enjoy the best experience possible.''

It is hoped that the project will provide Africa with faster and more robust connectivity to Europe and the rest of the world at far cheaper rates, helping to drive down the prohibitively expensive cost of broadband in these countries, as well as support IP-based services such as video applications for education and healthcare.

 The network, expected to be ready by 2011, will connect South Africa to the UK with landings in Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands and Portugal.

''WACS has brought together a multitude of nations and some of the world's most influential telecoms players in a joint effort to use state-of-the-art technology in linking more people more efficiently than ever before," said Kobus Stoeder, chairman of the consortium's management committee.

"WACS will enable these countries to improve communications and internet services that are crucial for social and economic development,'' he added.

Under the contract Alcatel-Lucent will install a minimum of three fibre pair cable systems linking southern Africa to Portugal, with landings in several intermediate countries and an extension to the UK in London.

   ''We are very pleased to be participating in the WACS. The investment is another step for TCL in bolstering its capabilities in the African market and will enhance our service propositions together with our partner Neotel in bringing added diversity into South Africa,'' said TCL senior VP (global transmission services), Byron Clatterbuck.

TCL is part of the $62.5 billion diversified Tata group with interests in a wide range of industries including auto, chemicals, telecom, information technology and consumer goods.

In March, TCL sold part of its stake in group company Tata Teleservices to Japanese telecom major NTT Docomo for about Rs424 crore ($83 million). (See: Tata Communications sells Rs424-crore worth stake in Tata Tele to NTT Docomo). 

 TCL shares closed at Rs553.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday, down Rs29.35, or 5.04 per cent from its Wednesday's close.