| Today in our manufacturing news we feature a press release from Africa and how the introduction of a new marine based Fibre Optic Cable will not only provide bandwidth capaciity but it may result in over capacity. For full press details please read on: Fibre Optic Cable will create overcapacity in East African bandwidth |
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There is growing concern among western telecommunication experts that the planned marine-based fibre-optic cable link could come at a high price to the service provider. Despite the latest news carried in the Daily Nation’s sister paper, The East African this week - that the Government had turned down a proposal by the US company Seacom for a joint venture in the regional project - there remains four groups bidding to participate. (see report yesterday). East Africa is the only region in the world not yet connected to the global broadband network, and hence Internet connection in the region is notoriously poor. But the respected Financial Times newspaper, in a special report on the issue, said that in the medium to long term, the establishment of a fiber optic cable could bring problems for an eventual provider. “Some prospective investors worry that East Africa could swing from being starved of bandwidth to having a glut,” the FT report says. “Seacom alone is expected to add 640 gigabites of bandwidth, yet Kenya today uses a mere 1.2 gigabites. “Sceptics say the African projects risk repeating errors made during the Internet bubble (in the UK), when over capacity and intense price competition forced several groups with rival transatlantic cables into bankruptcy.” Seacom has said its cable will be operational by 2009 while the Kenyan government says that its shorter cable will be completed by the middle of next year. The East African report says that the U.S. company is ahead of all the others, having signed an engineering procurement contract. If they are the first providers of broadband to Kenya they are likely to have a distinct advantage, making it difficult for other companies to compete. |
Posted 16.7.7
