The owners of NatCom Development & Investment Limited,
trading as ntel in Nigeria has said that the West Africa Submarine Cable also known
as SAT-3 cable has fully been repaired and restored for service delivery,
reports ITRealms.
The Director, External Affairs, ntel, Mr. Osondu C. Nwokoro
and Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Toni Kan Onwordi, confirmed this
development to ITRealms, saying that the self-acclaimed most advanced broadband
LTE network has announced the successful repair and return to service of its
SAT-3 submarine cable.
ITRealms recalls that SAT-3/WASC/SAFE or South Atlantic
3/West Africa Submarine Cable is the longest submarine communications cable in
the world with 17 landing points linking Portugal and Europe to South Africa,
with connections to several West African countries along the route.
They also quoted the chief executive officer, ntel, Mr. Kamar
Abass as saying that the repair of SAT-3 is fantastic news for data-hungry
consumers and corporates in need of superfast and abundant broadband carried
over a robust fibre network with significant capacity and low latency.
“SAT-3’s 17 landing points and intermediate branches
in-country and abroad provide for connections all the way to the Far East, thanks
to our alliance with SAFE,” he said.
As said by him, potential customers of SAT-3 include
Nigeria’s GSM and LTE operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), major
international companies, Private Telecom Operators, Content/Hosting Operators,
Infomedics/Infomatics Operators, the judiciary (for the execution of real-time
on-line matters), banks and the military as well as airline operators.
He explained that SAT-3’s repair also included the cable’s
physical diversion away from shipping lanes in the approach to the Port of
Lagos. Stressing that in the past, the dropping and dragging of anchors by such
traffic had been associated with disruptions to the cable.
“With the repaired system’s activation, the system’s Upgrade
IV will also be implemented. This boosts its throughput capacity from 420Gbps
to 920Gbps in the northern segments and from 340Gbps to 800Gbps in the southern
segments,” he said.
Abass, further said that SAT-3 Nigeria is now positioned to
better address Nigeria’s need for super-fast internet connectivity, data-hungry
applications, high-quality video-on-demand and increasing social media usage,
thus enhancing customer experience. Today, submarine cable systems carry more
than 98 per cent of all overseas voice, data and video traffic.
He pointed out that the the return of SAT-3 is significant
in many respects, noting that the submarine cable first launched in 2001, serves
as the precursor for Internet access between Europe and West Africa and would
take off where SAT-2 left off as it reached full capacity.
The CEO underlined the fact that SAT-2 was brought into
service in the early 1990s as a replacement for the original undersea cable
SAT-1 that was constructed in the 1960s, even as with Upgrade V now planned for
delivery in Q4, 2016, SAT3 will surpass 1000 STM-1 mark in Q3 of 2016, thus
providing even more capacity for the transformation of Nigeria’s broadband
landscape.
Abass emphasized that Nigeria’s SAT-3 cable system connects
to a Cable Landing Station in Central Lagos and, through a network of
metro-fibre ducts, connects to multiple districts in Lagos and, through high-capacity
inter-city connections expected to reach multiple cities across the country.
During 2016, ntel expects to connect hundreds of new
customers to the SAT-3 system, including many who have successfully used the
system in the recent past.
+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)
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