Zimbabwe to get Wacsed up

Deal between Tel One and Telecom Namibia means Zimbabwe will have an alternative route for international traffic.

Added by Editor on 23 August 2012.
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Zimbabwe is to be hooked up to the high-capacity West Africa Cable System (Wacs), the submarine telecommunications pipe that extends from SA to London along Africa’s west coast, thanks to a deal its incumbent fixed-line operator has concluded with its Namibia counterpart.

The announcement was made by Namibia’s ministry of information and communication technology, according to a report in The Zimbabwe Mail.

According to the report, Zimbabwe’s Tel One signed the deal for access to Wacs with Telecom Namibia.

The two companies agreed to interconnect Zimbabwe and Namibia using fibre-optic cable between Victoria Falls and Katima Mulilo. The project, to be completed by June 2013, will be spearheaded by a joint working group to be established by the end of the month, the report says.

Part of the capacity is being provided by Namibian electricity utility NamPower.

Zimbabwe will be connected via Namibia’s Wacs landing station located in the coastal town of Swakopmund, about 350km west of the capital, Windhoek.

Tel One already has access to the East Africa Submarine System (Eassy) via Mozambique. It is an investor in Eassy through the West Indian Ocean Cable Company.  — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media

Share this article

  • http://twitter.com/voiptecben Ben Roberts

    Interesting article but in fact
    Zimbabwe will be connected to WACS much sooner than June 2013…

    In the last few days, Liquid Telecom
    has connected Zimbabwe to WACS and we are testing the link now.

    So now Liquid Telecom is providing
    connectivity for both Zimbabwe and Zambia onto all 4 of the main subsea fibre
    systems of Africa ie WACS, EASSY, Seacom and SAT3.

    Ben Roberts – Technical Director
    Liquid Telecom

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